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[Page  40 
"  'TAKE   IT,'    SHE    WHISPERED;    'DON'T   FORGET  ME*" 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 


IRomancc 


BY 

ROBERT   W.  CHAMBERS 

AUTHOR  OF 

THE  KING  IN  YELLOW  "  "THE  RKD  REPUBLIC 
"LORHAINE"  ETC.,  ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW     YOKK    AND     LONDON 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS    PUBLISHERS 

1900 


BY   THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 


LORRAINE.  A  Romance.  Post  Svo,  Cloth,  SI  25. 
Taking  as  his  background  the  fiercely  contested  prov 
ince  of  Lorraine,  Mr.  Chambers  has  given  us  in  this 
romance  a  vivid  story  of  the  strenuous  days  of  the 
Franco-Prussian  War.  The  book  abounds  in  brilliant 
scene  and  character  description,  and  in  the  wealth  of  life 
and  color  which  his  readers  have  learned  to  expect  from 
Mr.  Chambers's  pen,  while  the  plot  is  one  of  strong  and 
sustained  interest.  "Lorraine"  will  appeal  irresistibly 
to  those  who  appreciate  the  best,  type  of  adventure  story, 
and  is  to  be  further  commended  for  its  historical  color 
and  for  the  delicacy  of  its  love  element. 


NEW    YORK    AND    LONDON: 
HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  PUBLISHERS. 


Copyright,  1809,  by  HAKPEII  &  BGOTHKUB. 

All  rig/Us  reserved. 


TO   ELSIE 

You,  to  whom  I  tell  my  tale, 
Swinging  in  your  hammock  there, 

Where  the  shadows  wane  and  pale — 
Tell  me,  can  my  tale  compare 

With  the  romance  you  and  I 

Weave  in  living  tapestry  ? 

All  the  world  shall  be  our  loom, 
Every  thought  a  shuttle  flying, 
Threading,  weaving,  twining,  tying, 
Tinting,  gilding,  staining,  dyeing 

Time  itself  with  youth  and  bloom. 

You,  for  whom  I  write  my  tales, 
Smiling  in  your  hammock  there, 

Where  the  silken  thistle  sails 

Tiny  ships  in  tiny  gales, 
Tempest-tossed  on  seas  of  air — 
There's  a  tale  beyond  compare 

Where  your  drooping  lids  disguise 

Magic  legends  in  your  eyes  ! 

Every  hour  shall  add  a  page 

In  our  romance  gaily  blending, 

Every  dawn  a  chapter  sending, 

Every  eve  a  chapter  ending  ; 
"Thou  and  I — from  Age  to  Age!" 

Swinging  in  your  hammock  there, 
Where  a  slanting  sunbeam  paints 

Aureoles  around  your  hair 
Fair  as  on  your  sister  saintes — 

Read  once  more  the  glowing  page: 

"Thou  and  I — from  Age  to  Age  !" 

April,  1899.  R  W.  C. 


91S814 


THE  CONSPIRATORS 

"ARE  you  riding  to  a  Tourney  with  your  banner  and  your 
Crest  ?" 

"I    am    riding    for    my   Vengeance    to    the    Lists    of    Love 

addressed, 

And  the  Cavalier  I  challenge  bears  a  Golden  Bow  on  high ; 
He  shall  render  me  High  Justice  in  the  Lists  of  Love — 

or  die  !"  

"Are  you  fighting  for  Your  Vengeance  there  a-kneeling  on 
your  knee  ?" 

"  I  am  fighting  for  My  Vengeance— O  !  the  empty  Victory  ! 
Let   him  mock  the   heart   he's   stricken  !    there's   Another 

Heart  to  wring, 
And  I'll  bear  it  on  my  banner  from  the  Kingdom  of  the 

King  !"  

"Are  you  suing  the  King's  Mercy  with  his  arrow  in  your 
breast  ?" 

"I    am    suing    the    King's    Mercy    that   he    shrive    my    sin 

confessed, 
For  I've  ridden  the  King's  Tourney  and  I've  fallen  at  his 

thrust, 
And  his  Shaft  is  in  my  bosom  and  my  Crest  is  in  the  dust." 

R.  W.  C. 

April,  1899 


CONTENTS 


I.  SECRET  HISTORY 1 

II.  Two  PASSPORTS 6 

III.  EXTRAORDINARY  PROCEEDINGS 16 

IV.  THE  SHADOW  ON  THE  WALL 23 

V.  A  SCARLET  HOOD 36 

VI.  AN  UNPLEASANT  DISCOVERY 42 

VII.  THIS  AMUSING  WORLD  ! 51 

VIII.  BREAKFAST  AND  BANTER 59 

IX.  THE  RING 70 

X.  A  MAN'S  FREEDOM 81 

XI.  THE  GRAND  DUCHESS 89 

XII.  THE  GOLD-FISHERS 105 

XIII.  His  EXCELLENCY  RETURNS 125 

XIV.  THE  FOREST  OF  ARDEN 138 

XV.  THE  HORSE-SHOE 149 

XVI.  THE  RENDEZVOUS 158 

XVII.  CONSPIRACY 169 

XVIII.  THE  WOLF-DRIVE 181 

XIX.  His  HIGHNESS  SPEAKS 196 

XX.  MASKS 207 

XXL  THE  GAME  AFOOT  ! 222 

XXII.  THE  SNARE 230 

XXIII.  MASKS  OFF! 245 

XXIV.  THE  BUTTERFLY 255 

ENVOI  .  .  263 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


'  TAKE    IT,'    SHE    WHISPERED  ;     '  DON'T    FORGET 

j£jj '  " Frontispiece 

'GIVE  ME  YOUR  PASSPORT'" Facing  p.       12 

'  I  AM  THE  DUCHESS  OP  LUXEMBOURG ' "  .    .    .  96 

THEY  STOOD  AT  THE  SIDE  OP  HER  HORSE,  HAT 

IN  HAND" 166 

'YOU  FOOLS/  HE  SAID,  'TO  PLAY  WITH  THE 

LOVE  GOD  SENDS  YOU  '  " 204 

THE  QUEEN  HAD  STOPPED  FULL  IN  THE  RADI 
ANCE  OP  THE  TERRACE  LAMPS"  ....  "  252 


THE  CONSPIRATORS 


CHAPTER  I 

SECEET    HISTORY 

Concerning  myself,  an  emperor,   and  a  few  other  important 


HAD  it  not  been  for  the  restlessness  of  William  the 
Sudden,  this  would  never  have  been  written.  The 
trouble  began  in  his  Majesty's  ear,  I  believe — I  have 
forgotten  which  one.  At  any  rate,  the  trouble  spread — 
I  do  not  mean  locally,  but  in  accordance  with  the 
inelegant  Muscovite  proverb :  "  When  the  Czar  itches, 
all  Asia  scratches." 

So  when  the  Emperor's  auricular  irritation  set  him 
scheming  and  plotting,  those  symptoms  of  inter 
national  agitation  known  as  canards  kept  the  tele 
graph  busy  until  even  the  United  States  stirred  like 
a  sleepy  watch-dog  vibrating  with  subterranean  grum 
bles.  Nevertheless,  in  the  daily  papers  there  was  noth 
ing  more  than  the  usual  rumours  of  war  in  Europe. 
Nobody  imagined  that  America  had  any  interest  in 
the  Luxembourg  question.  Therefore  what  I  write 
may  surprise  some  people. 

Late  in  that  oppressive  month  of  July  I  had  been 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 


detached  from  my 'regiment,  the  Seventh  Cavalry,  and 
ordered  to  Washington — why,  I  knew  not.  I  had 
absolutely  nothing  to  do  in  the  city  except  to  report 
at  the  War  Department  every  day,  study  geography, 
and  brush  up  my  knowledge  of  French,  Dutch,  and 
Flemish. 

For  a  week  I  sweltered  in.  the  broiling  city,  wonder 
ing  what  I  was  wanted  for,  until  a  chance  word  from 
the  Assistant  Secretary  of  War  gave  me  my  cue.  I  was 
utterly  amazed.  I  had  read  in  the  daily  papers  some 
thing  about  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Luxembourg  and 
the  mild  European  sensation  concerning  the  Emperor's 
rumoured  intentions  towards  it.  I  knew,  as  everybody 
knows,  that  Luxembourg,  once  a  state  belonging  to 
the  German  Confederation,  is  now  an  independent 
Grand  Duchy  closely  allied  to  Holland.  This  small 
triangular  country,  hemmed  in  by  Belgium,  France, 
and  Rhenish  Prussia,  and  secretly  coveted  by  all  three, 
served  as  a  buffer-state  to  keep  these  Christian  nations 
from  inter-assassination.  It  was  practically  defence 
less  ;  its  capital,  the  crumbling  city  of  Luxembourg, 
contained  a  single  battalion  of  troops,  a  grand  duke, 
a  duchess,  and  a  dozen  cannon.  Yet  its  very  weak 
ness  was  its  safeguard — or  at  least  had  been  its  safe 
guard  until  the  ear  of  AVilliam  the  Sudden  tickled  that 
monarch  into  a  mischievous  activity  that  threatened 
to  arouse  all  Europe.  For  William  cast  his  weather- 
eye  towards  Luxembourg,  and,  deciding  it  to  be  proper 
ground  on  which  to  plant  the  gospel  of  his  con 
secrated  person,  set  his  archaeologists  to  work  to  prove 
that  Luxembourg  had  always  belonged  to  him,  and  that 
the  treaty  of  London  was  void.  The  archives  of  the 
German  Confederation  which  once  existed,  corrobo- 

2 


SECRET    HISTORY 

rated  his  tentative  claim — at  least  he  said  they  did ;  but 
the  pretty  young  Queen  of  Holland  turned  up  her 
pretty  nose  and  quietly  mobilised  two  drowsy  Dutch 
army  corps,  which  contributed  to  the  merriment  of 
the  initiated  and  the  irritation  of  William  the  Sudden. 
And  all  this  time  the  public  suspected  nothing,  and 
the  press  saw  in  the  mobilisation  merely  the  autumn 
manoeuvres  of  the  Dutch  army. 

Then  intrigue  followed  intrigue  and  politics  waxed 
hotter,  and  France  secretly  created  more  artillery  and 
Belgium  built  more  forts — forts  utterly  superfluous, 
by-the-way,  as  everybody  knows  that  there  are  al 
ready  more  forts  in  Belgium  than  regiments  to  gar 
rison  them. 

England,  rising  heavily  from  her  sea-washed  chalk 
cliffs,  looked  out  across  the  channel  and  glared  at 
Luxembourg.  Then  the  Atlantic  cables  began  to  grow 
hot  with  cipher  codes — messages  that  culminated  in 
a  secret  understanding — the  proposed  joint  seizure  of 
Samoa  by  England  and  the  United  States  the  moment 
a  German  soldier  set  foot  on  Luxembourg  soil.  Yet 
of  this  understanding  the  public  had  not  the  faintest 
suspicion. 

That  was  the  situation  until  the  tension  increased, 
when  William  the  Sudden  made  a  speech  to  his  guard 
regiments,  full  of  concentrated  and  consecrated  mal 
ice,  which  startled  a  Foreign  Office  and  a  Department 
of  State.  The  public,  not  understanding  it,  derided 
its  author. 

In  the  astonished  silence  that  ensued,  the  United 
States,  ignoring  its  traditional  policy,  executed  an  un 
obtrusive  masterpiece  of  diplomacy  neither  noticed 
nor  understood  by  anybody  except  the  government 

3 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

officials  directly  concerned.  And  yet  it  was  exquisitely 
original  and  almost  Asiatic  in  its  complicated  sim 
plicity.  It  was  this  : 

An  American  Commissioner  had  been  named  and 
sent  to  Luxembourg,  ostensibly  en  route  for  the  Ant 
werp  Exhibition.  Once  in  Luxembourg,  however,  he 
was  quietly  received  as  the  accredited  representative 
of  the  United  States,  the  first  foreign  minister  to  the 
independent  state  of  Luxembourg. 

This  unprecedented  action  signified  the  unmistaka 
ble  decision  of  the  United  States  that  Luxembourg 
was  to  remain  an  independent  country ;  it  made  clear 
to  Germany  that  any  imperial  action  towards  the  ac 
quisition  of  Luxembourg  would  be  considered  as  an 
act  of  conquest  on  the  part  of  Germany  towards  a  free 
and  friendly  state. 

The  blow  fell  hard  on  William  ;  he  had  expected  to 
have  some  moral  excuse  for  action.  Now  he  had 
none.  This  diplomatic  slap  in  the  face  did  not  sweet 
en  his  disposition.  To  smite  him  was  an  awful  thing  ; 
the  United  States  government  knew  that,  and  waited 
for  a  Teutonic  upheaval.  And  the  sensational  press 
and  the  prying  public  never  imagined  that  the  United 
States  and  Germany  stood  on  the  brink  of  war. 

Affairs  were  at  this  stage  when  I  was  ordered  to 
Washington.  Affairs  remained  in  that  state  until,  to 
the  admiration  and  amusement  of  the  few  officials 
who  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  the  Executive,  it  was 
hinted  that  the  President  had  decided  to  send  a  mili 
tary  attache  to  the  Legation  at  Luxembourg.  I  was 
to  be  that  attache,  not  because  I  possessed  the  slight 
est  diplomatic  ability,  but  because  I  spoke  Dutch, 
French,  and  Flemish,  and  was  not  ignorant  of  the  Wal- 

4 


SECRET    HISTORY 

loon  dialect.  So,  one  beautiful  morning  in  August, 
after  a  rambling  and  tedious  lecture  from  the  Secre 
tary  of  War,  I  packed  my  grip  and  climbed  aboard 
a  B.  &  0.  train  for  New  York. 

A  week  later  I  was  in  Paris. 

An  hour  later  I  was  in  trouble. 


CHAPTER  II 

TWO     PASSPORTS 

In  which  there  is  the  devil  to  pay 

the  Brussels-Antwerp  through  express  left 
Paris  for  the  city  of  Luxembourg  late  in  the  after 
noon,  the  first-class  smoking  compartment  was  occu 
pied  by  two  young  men.  One  had  been  handed  a 
telegram  just  as  the  train  moved  off.  He  turned  a 
trifle  pale  as  he  opened  it.  He  did  not  interest  me 
particularly,  although  I  hoped  he  had  received  no 
bad  news.  I  could  not  ask  him,  however,  because  I 
did  not  know  him. 

The  other  young  man  sat  smoking  and  drumming 
noiselessly  on  the  car  window  with  gloved  fingers. 
That  was  the  man  who  interested  me.  I  glanced  into 
the  panel-mirror  across  the  aisle,  and  nodded  at  my 
own  reflection  in  friendly  fashion,  then  turned  again 
towards  the  window,  to  blink  at  trees,  hedges,  and 
telegraph-poles  flying  past,  until  the  monotony  tired 
me  and  I  picked  up  the  Figaro  and  read  it  through. 

Now  although  there  was  little  in  the  paper  to  in 
terest  me,  a  single  news  item  tucked  away  on  the 
third  page  momentarily  arrested  my  attention.  The 
item  was  food  for  a  cynic's  digestion.  It  read  : 

"  Prince  Edric,  of  Prussia,  is  said  to  be  deeply  in  love  with  a 
beautiful  peasant  girl  of  Luxembourg.  As  his  intentions  are 
honourable,  the  situation  causes  the  Emperor  great  unhappiness." 

G 


TWO    PASSPORTS 

The  paragraph  started  a  train  of  thought  which  I 
followed,  leaning  on  the  window-sill,  until  I  uncon 
sciously  began  to  weave  a  pretty  romance  around  the 
peasant  girl  of  Luxembourg  and  the  handsome  Prus 
sian  prince. 

The  train  roared  across  a  trestle ;  below,  a  swiftly 
rushing  river  flashed  into  sight,  then  vanished,  and 
again  the  broad  level  plain,  spotted  with  poplars, 
stretched  peacefully  away  to  the  horizon. 

I  had  been  lounging  there  by  the  window  for  some 
time,  absorbed  in  my  own  thoughts,  eyes  noting  in 
differently  the  changeless  procession  of  trees  and 
fields,  when  the  sound  of  a  match  scraping  behind 
me  drew  my  attention.  My  fellow-traveller  was  at 
tempting  to  set  fire  to  a  cigar,  an  atrocious  one,  from 
which  he  had  just  pulled  a  straw.  I  thought  to  my 
self  :  "  There  is  but  one  nation  sufficiently  degraded 
to  foster  trade  in  that  kind  of  cigar ;  my  companion 
is  a  German." 

I  spoke  to  him  pleasantly  in  German.  I  can  do  it 
when  mentally  excited.  He  courteously  removed  the 
cigar  from  his  lips  and  replied  conventionally  to  my 
conventional  observation.  Meanwhile  his  match  had 
burned  out.  I  saw  him  prepare  to  strike  another  ;  at 
the  same  moment  he  caught  my  eye.  What  my  face 
expressed  I  can  only  conjecture ;  at  any  rate,  he 
again  removed  the  cigar  from  between  his  lips  and 
examined  the  slightly  charred  end. 

"  There  is  nothing  the  matter  with  it,  is  there  ?" 
he  asked,  seriously. 

I  leaned  across  the  aisle  to  inspect  the  infernal 
machine ;  and  we  began  a  critical  confab  concerning 
tobacco,  which  ended  in  my  suggesting  that  he  give 

7 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

an  expert's  opinion  on  one  of  my  Havana  cigars.  He 
agreed ;  it  was  my  first  diplomatic  triumph  on  for 
eign  soil. 

Now  I  knew  that  I  was  casting  pearls ;  moreover, 
,  I  had  few  American  cigars  left ;  but  as  long  as  my 
cigars  and  diplomacy  held  out,  I  swore  that  I  should 
not  suffocate  to  make  a  German's  holiday. 

When  my  companion  expressed  placid  satisfaction 
with  the  cigar,  I  replied  suitably,  and  we  settled  back 
on  our  velvet  cushions,  prepared  for  further  confi 
dences,  or  for  silence. 

After  a  few  moments'  aromatic  reverie,  I  became 
conscious  that  my  companion  was  staring  at  me.  In 
stinctively  I  raised  my  head,  but  he  was  looking  at 
the  lamp  in  the  ceiling,  absently  tearing  the  blue 
telegram  to  pieces. 

We  chatted  a  little;  we  touched  on  politics,  par 
tridge-shooting,  and  the  Spanish  loan.  I  tried  him 
with  English  ;  he  spoke  it  perfectly,  so  I  knew  he  had 
not  learned  it  in  America,  and  he  knew  that  I  had. 

Again  I  relapsed  into  a  reverie,  unconsciously  taking 
up  the  thread  where  I  had  dropped  a  stitch  in  the  ro 
mance  of  the  prince  and  the  peasant  girl,  indolently 
wondering  where,  in  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Luxem 
bourg,  Prince  Edric's  inamorata  dwelt. 

As  long  as  I  was  bound  for  the  city  of  Luxembourg, 
it  pleased  me  to  think  that  I  was  going  to  a  land  where 
a  prince  could  still  love  honourably,  and  where  the 
opening  bud  of  Romance  proved  that  the  stalk  had  not 
withered  to  the  root.  For  the  roots  of  Romance  are 
bedded  in  chivalry;  and  not  until  chivalry  and  honour 
vanish  from  the  world  will  the  frail  flower  of  Romance 
become  extinct. 

8 


TWO    PASSPORTS 

While  I  had  been  musing  by  the  window,  industrious 
ly  smoking  and  constructing  this  metaphor,  my  eyes 
had  followed  an  interminable  landscape,  monotonous, 
featureless,  yet  continually  changing  to  a  thousand 
dreary  fac-similes  of  the  original  copyrighted  view. 

And  all  the  while  I  had  been  instinctively  aware 
that  my  German  neighbour  opposite  had  never  taken 
his  eyes  oif  me.  He  studied  my  features  persistently  ; 
he  examined  my  clothes,  my  shoes.  I  gazed  dreamily 
out  of  the  rattling  cinder  -  smeared  windows,  and  I 
felt  his  eyes  estimating  my  probable  height. 

' '  Continental  curiosity,"  I  thought  to  myself,  yet  as 
I  thought  it  I  knew  there  was  no  such  thing  as  Con 
tinental  curiosity.  I  had  been  educated  in  France. 

A  little  impatient,  I  turned  to  encounter  his  direct 
gaze.  He  did  not  attempt  to  evade  my  eyes ;  on  the 
contrary,  he  said,  amiably  : 

"It  is  curious  how  we  resemble  each  other.  Have 
you  observed  ?" 

"No,"  I  said,  "I  have  not." 

Irritation  succeeded  surprise  as  I  noticed  his  dark, 
handsome  eyes,  his  splendid  colour,  his  perfectly  shaped 
head,  and  contrasted  them  with  my  ordinary  brown 
eyes,  monotonous  coat  of  tan,  and  stocky  neck  and 
head.  He  noticed  my  reserve. 

"Nevertheless,"  he  said,  pleasantly,  "I  will  wager, 
monsieur,  that  in  your  passport  the  official  descrip 
tion  of  you  would  fit  me  in  every  particular." 

"  Oh,"  said  I,  "that  is  easily  proven.  Shall  we  lay 
a  bet  ?" 

"With  pleasure,"  he  replied  ;  "and,  furthermore,  I 
will  wager  that  the  description  in  my  passport  will 
fit  yon." 

9 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"I'll  take  those  bets,"  I  said;  "what  are  the 
stakes  ?" 

"  I  beg  you  to  name  them,"  he  replied,  courteously. 

"Very  well,"  I  said;  "I'll  lay  you  a  dozen  cigars 
against  a  cigarette  that  neither  of  our  passports  prop 
erly  describes  anybody  but  the  owner."  If  I  lost,  at 
least  I'd  keep  him  smoking  decent  tobacco. 

"Done — with  pleasure,"  he  said,  drawing  his  pass 
port  from  his  pocket. 

Fumbling  in  my  breast-pocket  for  my  own  passport 
I  had  time  to  notice  that  his  was  engraved  in  German 
and  bore  the  seals  of  the  German  Empire. 

"Shall  I  read  my  passport  ?"  I  asked,  opening  the 
parchment  and  glancing  at  him. 

"  By  all  means,"  he  replied,  opening  his  own  for 
midable  document. 

He  raised  the  window,  tossed  out  the  pieces  of  his 
torn  telegram,  and  turned  to  me  expectantly.  So  I 
began  : 

"'UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA,  DEPARTMENT  OP  STATE. 
"  '  To  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come : 

"'GREETING, — I,  the  undersigned,  Secretary  of  State  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  hereby  request  all  whom  it  may  con 
cern  to  permit  Gilbert  Hardy,  a  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
safely  and  freely  to  pass,  and,  in  case  of  need,  to  give  him  all 
lawful  aid  and  protection. 

"  '  Given  under  my  hand  and  the  seal  of  the  Depart 
ment  of  State  at  the  City  of  Washington  the 
[SEAL]          17th  day  of  July  in  the  year  of  the   Indepen 
dence  of  the  United  States  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty-first.' 

"Now,"  I  continued,  "follows  the  description  : 

10 


TWO    PASSPORTS 

"  'Age,  25  years.  Stature,  5  feet  7|  inches.  Forehead,  medium. 
Eyes,  brown.  Nose,  very  slightly  upturned.  Mouth,  medium. 
Chin,  round.  Hair,  brown.  Complexion,  fair.  Face,  full. 
Mustache,  short  and  light  brown.' 

"And/'  I  ended,  "here  is  my  signature  and  the 
number  of  the  passport — 5329." 

"  Does  not  that  description  fit  me  also  ?"  he  asked. 

I  began  to  re-read  the  items,  glancing  up  at  him 
from  time  to  time,  and,  to  my  surprise,  found  that 
everything  except  age  and  height  described  him  as 
well  as  it  did  me. 

"How  old  are  you  ?"  I  asked. 

"Twenty-five." 

"And  are  you  five  feet  seven  and  a  quarter  inches 
in  height  ?" 

He  made  a  rapid  mental  calculation  from  German 
to  English  measure. 

"Exactly,"  he  replied. 

Then  he  read  from  his  own  passport  his  name, 
Stanerl  Von  Elbe,  and  the  official  description  of  him 
self  which,  translated  into  English,  agreed  exactly 
with  the  description  of  myself  in  my  own  passport. 

"  I  have  lost  my  bet,"  said  I,  laughing ;  "  yet  could 
any  two  people  be  really  more  unlike  than  you 
and  I  ?" 

"Suppose,"  said  he,  gayly,  "that  you  and  I  ex 
change  passports  for  a  while — say  for  a  month  or  two  ? 
It  would  be  amusing,  would  it  not  ?" 

I  laughed  and  folded  up  my  paper. 

" I  mean  it  seriously,"  he  said  ;  "would  you  ?" 

"No,"  said  I,  frankly,  "I  don't  think  I  would." 

"  Neither  of  us  really  have  any  use  for  passports  in 
civilised  Europe,"  he  persisted  ;  "  and  yet,  do  you 

11 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

know,  it  would  be  of  great  service  to  me  if  you  would 
exchange — say  for  a  day  or  two." 

At  this  extraordinary  if  not  impertinent  request  I 
looked  at  the  young  fellow  in  surprise.  He  returned 
my  stare  and  continued  : 

"I  am  perfectly  aware  how  unusual  such  a  sugges 
tion  may  seem  to  you,  Mr.  Hardy,  and  I  beg  you  to 
believe  that  I  intend  neither  to  affront  you  nor  to  at 
tempt  any  familiarity  that  our  casual  acquaintance 
could  not  warrant." 

"  It  certainly  does  not  warrant  our  exchanging  pass 
ports,"  I  said. 

"  It  warrants  nothing,"  he  replied,  turning  red. 
1 '  I  should  scarcely  have  risked  a  snub  from  a  stranger. 
I  have  been  trying  to  make  up  my  mind  to  ask  you 
for  your  passport  for  the  last  hour." 

"  I  cannot,  of  course,  give  you  my  passport,"  said 
I;  "you  yourself,  Monsieur  Von  Elbe,  will  under 
stand  why." 

' '  Because  you  don't  know  me  ?" 

"Exactly;  and  because  I  don't  propose  to  have  a 
stranger  impersonating  me.  Why  should  I  ?" 

"Because,"  he  said,  in  a  low  voice,  "it  might  help 
me  without  harming  you." 

"If  I  knew  that,"  I  said,  "you  should  have  the 
passport." 

He  straightened  up  and  dropped  his  left  hand  to  a 
level  with  his  hip,  where,  had  he  been  an  officer,  he 
would  have  found  a  sword-hilt  swinging. 

"  Can  you  not  understand,  monsieur,"  said  I,  irri 
tably,  "that  I  am  not  insulting  you  because  I  refuse 
to  credit  what  you  tell  me  ?  Nor  should  I,  under  such 
circumstances,  expect  you  to  believe  me." 

12 


TWO    PASSPORTS 

( '  I  am  a  Prussian  and  an  officer,"  he  said,  haughtily. 

61  That  I  knew  when  you  reached  for  your  sword — 
which,"  I  continued,  "is  a  habit  of  German  officers 
not  at  all  appreciated  by  Americans." 

I  was  becoming  more  irritated  every  moment ;  he 
had  tightened  his  lips  and  straightened  up,  shoulders 
squared,  eyes  narrowing  with  suppressed  anger. 

"When  you  acknowledge  me  to  be  an  officer  and  a 
Prussian,"  he  said,  "you  naturally  admit  me  incapa 
ble  of  deception." 

"And  yet,"  I  said,  "you  wish  me  to  be  a  party  to 
wholesale  deception  by  furnishing  you  with  my  pass 
port." 

That  staggered  him  ;  he  gazed  blankly  at  me,  lips 
slightly  parted. 

"  Let  us  drop  the  subject,"!  suggested,  pleasantly; 
for,  in  spite  of  his  impudence,  I  could  not  choose  but 
like  him  ;  he  was  wonderfully  handsome,  and  as  man 
ly  a  youngster  as  I  had  ever  encountered. 

"  I  cannot  drop  the  subject,"  he  said,  with  an  ef 
fort ;  "all  the  humiliation  you  put  me  to  is  worth 
enduring — because  I  must  have  your  passport." 

"  Must  ?"  I  repeated,  sharply. 

"  Yes.  You  would  give  it  to  me  if  you  knew  what 
depends  on  your  generosity." 

"  What  depends  on  my  generosity  ?" 

"  I  cannot  tell  you." 

I  bowed  and  picked  up  the  Figaro ;  not  that  I  was 
going  to  read  it,  but  it  seemed  a  means  of  closing  the 
discussion. 

For  ten  minutes  I  scanned  it  mechanically — under 
standing  nothing  of  what  I  read — wondering  who  the 
deuce  this  you  rig  fellow  might  be  who  took  such  easy 

13 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

liberties  with  other  people's  property.  My  paper  hid 
him  from  my  view.  He  kept  very  still.  After  a  while 
I  slightly  lowered  the  paper  to  glance  at  him,  and 
found  myself  looking  into  the  round  black  barrel  of 
a  revolver.  There  was  a  painful  silence ;  I  tried  to 
rivet  my  gaze  on  his  face,  but  my  eyes  always  returned 
to  that  round  black  muzzle.  Suddenly  I  made  a 
quick  motion  towards  my  hip-pocket,  and  at  the  same 
moment  the  muzzle  of  his  pistol  chilled  my  ear. 

"  Give  me  your  passport,"  he  said,  in  a  strained 
voice. 

"  The  pleasure  is  mine,"  I  replied,  producing  the 
document.  "I  was  not  before  aware  of  your  profes 
sion,  monsieur,  otherwise  I  might  have  made  it  more 
interesting  for  us  both." 

His  hand  trembled  a  trifle  as  he  lowered  the  sliming 
weapon,  but  he  still  kept  me  covered,  his  hand  rest 
ing  on  his  left  knee. 

"  I  am  not  a  highwayman,"  he  said,  unsteadily ;  "  I 
am  driven  to  this." 

"  Oh,  I  see  you  are  not  a  highwayman,"  I  replied. 
"  May  I  offer  you  my  watch  as  a  guarantee  of  my  sym 
pathy  and  admiration  ?" 

He  paled  and  raised  his  pistol,  aiming  at  my  eyes. 

"Damn  you,"  he  said,  fiercely,  "if  you  insult  me 
again,  I'll  fire  this  in  your  face  I" 

We  sat  silently  facing  each  other.  I,  between  ap 
prehension  and  astonishment,  found  my  wits  in  a  sad 
ly  disordered  condition,  and  I  felt  decidedly  relieved 
when  again  he  lowered  his  weapon  and  sat,  breathing 
fast,  watching  my  slightest  movement. 

My  policy  was  to  wait,  and  I  knew  it. 

Presently  he  spoke  again,  distinctly,  weighing  every 
14 


TWO    PASSPORTS 

phrase,  trimming  each  ^ord  to  the  quick,  and  biting 
off  sentences  with  a  crisp  snap. 

"  Your  passport  will  be  returned  to  you— my  word 
as  a  Prussian  officer.  Give  me  your  parole  that  you 
will  not  attempt  to  recover  it  by  force.  It  will  re 
lieve  us  both." 

"  I  give  you  my  word  that  I  won't  attempt  any 
thing  as  long  as  you  have  me  covered/'  I  said. 

"  And  if  I  put  up  my  pistol  ?" 

"Then  God  help  you/'  I  thought  to  myself. 

"Answer,"  he  repeated. 

I  shrugged  my  shoulders  and  looked  out  of  the 
window.  For  I  had  an  article  in  my  hip-pocket  that 
I  was  sure  would  interest  him — and  I  wondered 
whether  he'd  give  me  half  a  chance  to  reach  for  it 
before  we  reached  Luxembourg. 

"  May  I  look  at  my  time-table  ?"  I  asked,  gently. 

"There  are  no  stops  between  Paris  and  Luxem 
bourg,"  he  said. 


CHAPTER  III 

EXTRAORDINARY    PROCEEDINGS 
Wherein  an  interesting  question  of  precedence  is  settled 

IT  was  an  hour  before  I  spoke  again.  My  com 
panion  sat  quietly  in  his  corner  of  the  compartment, 
revolver  and  eyes  focussed  on  my  person.  Whenever 
I  made  a  movement  he  promptly  levelled  his  weapon 
at  my  head  and  kept  it  in  that  annoying  position 
until  I  became  motionless  again.  To  me  the  pro 
ceedings  were  at  once  humiliating  and  monotonous. 
At  times  I  relapsed  into  a  hypnotic  inspection  of  the 
revolver  muzzle  always  confronting  me,  although  his 
firm  hand  rested  easily  on  one  knee. 

As  the  slow  minutes  passed,  the  situation  became 
more  interesting  to  us  both,  because  we  knew  that 
sooner  or  later  we  should  arrive  at  the  station.  There 
I  intended  to  turn  the  tables  on  my  bandit  friend 
from  Prussia.  Perhaps  he  read  my  thoughts.  He 
glanced  uneasily  out  of  the  car  window,  but  as  yet 
there  was  nothing  to  see  except  flat  dusty  plains, 
symmetrical  poplars,  and  the  level  western  sun, 
smouldering  behind  a  straight  band  of  violet  haze. 

Disgust  had  succeeded  my  first  alarm ;  that  too 
gave  way  to  curiosity,  then  to  ennui. 

"  Pooh,"  thought  I,  "the  game  is  in  my  own  hands 
when  we  come  to  the  station." 

Before  long  I  felt  that  I  was  going  to  yawn,  and 
1C 


EXTRAORDINARY  PROCEEDINGS 

this  pleased  me.  "  For/'  thought  I,  ' '  there  are  not 
so  many  people  in  this  world  who  find  time  to  yawn 
into  the  muzzle  of  a  pistol/' 

"Pardon,  monsieur/' I  said,  "but  I  am  about  to 
commit  a  breach  of  etiquette.  May  I  dissimulate  the 
indiscretion  with  my  hand  ?" 

He  said  nothing;  I  enjoyed  my  yawn,  the  more  be 
cause  I  noticed  he  had  not  raised  his  too  convenient 
pistol. 

"I  am  under  obligations  to  you,"  I  said.  "May  I 
search  in  my  pockets  for  my  handkerchief  ?" 

"Are  you  armed  ?"  he  demanded. 

"I  am  doubly  armed  with  innocence/' I  replied, 
flippantly. 

"Anything  else  ?"  he  insisted,  sarcastically. 

"  Oh,  nothing  but  a  Colt's  six-shooter." 

"  Then  never  mind  your  handkerchief  for  the 
present,"  he  returned. 

As  I  didn't  need  my  handkerchief,  I  didn't  mind. 
After  a  while  he  again  asked  me  for  my  parole,  and  I 
refused. 

"I  tell  you  no  harm  need  come  to  you,"  he  re 
peated. 

I  said  nothing. 

"  But  it  may,  unless  you  listen  to  me  and  do  what 
I  say,"  he  added,  with  unconcealed  impatience. 

"Oh,  I'll  listen,"  I  replied,  "but  I  won't  give  you 
my  parole.  If  I  did  I'd  keep  it — even  to  you." 

He  eyed  me  narrowly  for  a  moment  or  two,  during 
which  I  affected  an  interest  in  the  sunset  that  I  did 
not  feel. 

ef  May  I  trouble  you  for  your  attention  ?"  he  said, 
angrily. 

B  17 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"You  are  in  a  position  to  trouble  me  for  more  than 
that/7  I  imprudently  replied. 

For  a  second  I  thought  he  was  going  to  shoot  me. 
A  cool  current  of  air  from  the  ventilator  dried  the 
sudden  perspiration  on  my  cheek-bones.  When  he 
had  mastered  his  fury,  which  was  exclusively  inter 
nal,  he  said  : 

"Monsieur,  I  have  subjected  myself  to  sneers  and 
insinuations  from  an  American.  Our  relative  posi 
tions  at  this  moment  do  not  allow  me  to  resent  any 
affront  from  you,  nor  even  to  inform  you,  in  suitable 
terms,  of  my  opinion  concerning  you.  But  when  I 
have  the  pleasure  to  return  you  your  passport  I  shall 
permit  myself  the  honour  of  insulting  you." 

"  Your  presence  alone  will  accomplish  that,"  I 
replied. 

He  controlled  himself  so  beautifully  that  it  oc 
curred  to  me  I  was  playing  a  sorry  game — like  a  little 
boy  making  faces  at  a  caged  panther. 

"Come,"  said  I,  "after  all,  I  suppose  even  high 
waymen  are  sensitive  at  times.  I'm  obliged  to  you 
for  your  self-control.  I  can't  make  you  out,  and  I 
don't  particularly  care  to,  but  I  warn  you  frankly  that 
if  I  can  get  my  passport  back  I'll  do  it.  Why,"  I 
continued,  "this  thing  is  monstrous.  By  Heaven! 
if  I  had  a  chance — only  half  a  chance — " 

"What  would  you  do  ?"  he  asked,  much  interested. 

"  I'd  blow  your  damned  head  off  !"  I  said,  gayly. 

"  Listen,"  he  said  ;  "  I'll  give  you  a  chance  to  seek 
the  satisfaction  that  certainly  is  yours  by  right.  I'll 
fight  you  in  a  week,  when  and  where  and  with  what 
ever  you  please,  conforming,  of  course,  to  established 
procedure.  Now  will  you  give  me  your  parole  ?" 

18 


EXTRAORDINARY    PROCEEDINGS 

"  No,"  I  said,  shortly. 

"  Why  ?     Because  you  do  not  trust  me  ?" 

"Why  should  I  ?  You  rob  me,  and  then  ask  me  to 
trust  you  ?  Go  to  the  devil !" 

"Very  well,"  he  said,  with  tightened  lips  ;  "  I  shall 
have  the  greater  pleasure  in  offering  you  satisfaction 
— a  week  from  to-day." 

"The  tribute  will  be  as  unwelcome  as  unexpected/' 
I  said.  "  I  don't  fight  duels  with  bandits." 

"  That  will  do  !"  he  interrupted,  in  a  harsh  voice. 
"You  can  afford  to  risk  it  if  I  can." 

He  glanced  out  of  the  window  ;  I  made  the  faintest 
motion  towards  my  hip,  then  desisted. 

"  I  have  one  thing  to  say  to  you  before  we  reach 
Luxembourg,"  he  said,  tossing  his  passport  onto  the 
cushion  at  my  side.  "  It  is  this  :  don't  use  that  pass 
port  of  mine.  You  need  not  show  it.  I  give  it  to 
you  to  be  rid  of  it.  In  case  of  detention,  I  can't  afford 
to  have  that  passport  found  in  my  possession." 

"I  don't  want  it,"  I  said;  but  he  ignored  my  ob 
servation  and  continued  : 

"When  we  reach  the  station — and  we'll  be  there 
shortly — contrary  to  custom,  the  gendarmes  may  ask 
for  your  passport.  Don't  show  them  mine.  Say 
simply  that  you  have  lost  your  passport — which  will 
be  true." 

"Oh,  quite  true." 

"Which  will  be  true,"  he  repeated,  coldly.  "If 
yon  do  this  you  will  avoid  serious  inconvenience." 

"  If  I  don't,  what  then  ?"  I  asked. 

"  You'll  find  out,"  he  said,  with  the  faintest  twinkle 
of  amusement  in  his  eyes. 

Of  course  I  immediately  made  up  my  mind  to  show 
19 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

his  passport  whether  anybody  asked  for  it  or  not. 
Naturally  he  would  not  care  to  have  me  show  his 
passport  to  the  police.  Then  it  occurred  to  me  that 
he  certainly  was  not  obliged  to  give  me  his  passport 
and  run  the  risk  of  my  showing  it.  Perhaps,  after  all, 
it  was  to  my  advantage  to  take  his  strange  advice. 

He  must  have  divined  my  perplexity,  for  he  said : 
"It's  good  advice,  take  it." 

Out  of  the  corner  of  my  eye,  through  the  car  window, 
I  saw  signs  that  we  were  approaching  the  city  of 
Luxembourg :  long  lines  of  freight-cars  side-tracked, 
signal -towers,  sheds,  lonesome  locomotives  hissing 
and  steaming  on  turn-tables,  and,  to  my  great  satisfac 
tion,  here  and  there  I  had  a  glimpse  of  Luxembourg 
gendarmes  in  patent-leather  shakos  and  blue  and 
white  uniforms,  patrolling  a  broad  terraced  highway 
that  ran  parallel  to  the  railroad. 

"When  we  arrive  at  the  station,  and  the  train 
stops,"  said  my  companion,  "Fll  trouble  you  to  get 
out  first." 

"In  the  etiquette  of  precedence,"  I  replied,  cheer 
fully,  "I  submit  to  your  revolver  and  to  your  more 
extensive  Continental  experience." 

"  Confound  you,"  he  burst  out,  with  a  boyish  laugh, 
"  you're  not  a  bad  fellow  after  all  I'' 

"Indeed  I'm  not,"  I  said,  "but  you  may  not  ap 
preciate  me  in  a  moment  more." 

"Are  you  going  to  get  out  first  ?" 

"Yes— if  you  insist." 

"And  wait  for  the  psychological  moment  when  you 
can  draw  your  six-shootaire  ?" 

His  affected  pronunciation— for  he  spoke  English 
exquisitely  when  he  chose,  revealed  in  a  flash  a  cool- 

20 


EXTRAORDINARY  PROCEEDINGS 

ness,  a  self-assurance,  and  a  subtle  irony  that  fairly 
took  my  breath  away. 

"  See/'  he  said,  "  we  are  in  the  suburbs  already. 
We  shall  be  in  the  station  in  half  a  minute.  There 
you  will  see  lots  of  gendarmes,  lots  of  railroad  officials, 
lots  of  people,  and  a  few  soldiers  on  the  station-plat 
form.  Are  you  going  to  shout  '  Brigands  !  Police  ! 
Help!'" 

"  I  will  if  I  choose,"  I  said. 

"And  you'll  show  my  passport  as  exhibit  A,  I 
fancy.  Eh  ?  Documents  in  evidence,  damning  proof, 
and  all  that  ?" 

"  Perhaps." 

"  Better  not,"  he  said,  laughing  outright.  His  hand 
some  face  had  undergone  a  complete  transformation. 
Before,  it  had  been  haughty,  impenetrable,  often 
darkly  furious,  and  always  tinged  with  the  shadow  of 
care.  Now  it  was  the  face  of  a  boy,  reckless,  half 
laughing,  glowing  with  color.  He  flushed  like  an 
eager  subaltern  at  his  first  battle  ;  he  sniffed  at  danger 
and  seemed  to  find  the  aroma  satisfactory.  He  was  a 
highwayman  worthy  of  the  name. 

"Pick  up  my  passport,"  he  said,  "and  put  it  in 
your  breast-pocket.  Careful  now  !"  He  twirled  his 
revolver  as  he  spoke. 

I  obeyed,  wondering  when  he  was  going  to  appro 
priate  my  watch  and  wallet. 

The  train  glided  under  an  overhanging  roof — slower, 
slower — then  stopped  in  the  midst  of  a  sudden  tumult 
of  cries  :  "Luxembourg  !  Luxembourg  !  All  out  for 
the  Custom-house  !  Descendez,  messieurs,  s'il  vous 
plait !" 

"  Descendez,  monsieur,  s'il  vous  plait,"  said  my  com- 
21 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

panion,  with  a  nervous  laugh.  I  hesitated;  his  re 
volver  flew  up  and  almost  touched  my  cheek. 

"  Turn  your  back.    Go  !"  he  whispered,  fiercely. 

I  went. 

But  as  my  foot  touched  the  asphalt  platform,  quick 
as  thought  I  ducked  behind  the  door,  whipped  out  my 
revolver,  and  fired  back  into  the  compartment  from 
which  I  had  emerged. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE   SHADOW   Otf  THE   WALL 

Detailing,  among  other  things,  a  few  reasons  why  stone  walls  do 
not  a  prison  make  nor  iron  bars  a  cage 

Now  it  is  one  thing  to  fire  a  pistol  and  another  thing 
to  hit  what  you  fire  at.  It  is  still  another  matter  to 
fire  at  nothing  and  hit  it ;  but  when  you  fire  at  noth 
ing  and  hit  anything,  the  subject  becomes  too  complex 
for  serious  discussion. 

I  fired,  not  because  I  saw  my  late  companion  over 
the  Colt's  sights ;  I  merely  took  a  justifiable  snap 
shot,  just  to  break  the  ice.  I  broke  the  car  window 
incidentally,  then  stepping  to  the  door  of  the  dark 
coupe,  I  began  to  empty  my  weapon  into  the  interior, 
expecting,  of  course,  that  my  late  companion  would 
strike  up  a  duet  with  me. 

I  was  dimly  conscious  that  a  great  many  people 
around  me  were  screaming  and  backing  away  from  my 
neighborhood ;  I  peered  through  the  smoke  into  the 
coupe  and  saw  nobody  there.  A  second  later,  notic 
ing  that  the  opposite  door  swung  wide  open,  it  came 
to  me  that  my  larcenous  companion  had  perhaps  left 
the  coupe  at  the  same  moment  I  had,  but  by  the  door 
opening  out  on  the  parallel  railway  tracks.  I  sprang 
to  the  step  of  the  car,  determined  he  should  not 
escape  ;  the  next  moment  somebody  seized  me. 

I  do  not  now  blame  the  gendarme  who,  stealing  up 
23 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

behind  me,  threw  both  arms  around  me  and  bawled 
for  help,  and  breathed  unpleasantly  down  my  neck  ;  I 
no  longer  harbour  ill-will  towards  the  other  gendarmes 
and  the  populace  of  Luxembourg,  who  shouted  and 
sweated  and  hemmed  me  in  amid  a  crushing  throng  of 
excited  citizens,  who  had  all  apparently  been  nour 
ished  exclusively  with  onions. 

Half  suffocated  and  crushed,  I  was  introduced  into 
the  ladies' waiting-room,  from  which  the  ladies,  resent 
ing  the  introduction,  promptly  fled.  Here  people 
shouted  at  me,  and  I  was  conducted  to  a  sidewalk 
black  with  citizens  who  made  observations  and  pointed 
and  held  up  little  children  to  see  me. 

I  angrily  demanded  to  be  heard ;  the  police  laughed. 
Inside  the  cab  two  gendarmes  sat  facing  me ;  another 
took  a  seat  at  my  side,  and  still  another  climbed  to 
the  box  beside  the  coachman. 

There  was,  truly  enough,  a  certain  pomp  and  cir 
cumstance  attending  my  first  entry  into  the  city  of 
Luxembourg,  although  I  was  not  presented  with  the 
freedom  of  the  city  or  any  other  kind  of  freedom. 
But  the  military  escort  was  certainly  impressive  if  not 
flattering. 

"You'll  get  into  trouble  if  you  arrest  me,"  I  said. 
"  I  am  an  American  citizen — Military  Attache  to  the 
United 'States  Legation/' 

"  So  I  supposed,"  replied  one  of  the  gendarmes. 
"Are  you  also  the  Grand  Llama  of  Thibet  ?" 

"Do  you  take  me  for  a  madman  ?"  I  asked,  aston 
ished. 

"  Either  that  or  a  German  spy." 

"  But  what  would  you  do  if  I  showed  you  a  German 
passport  ?"  I  inquired,  sarcastically. 

24 


THE    SHADOW    ON    THE    WALL 

"  Confiscate  it,"  he  said. 

"Bern ember,"  observed  one  of  the  fat  gendarmes 
opposite,  "  that  whatever  statement  you  make  now 
will  be  used  against  you  later." 

"  What  have  I  said  ?"  I  demanded,  much  amused. 

"  You  have  admitted  you  are  travelling  under  false 
pretences,  and  you  look  it !"  said  the  other  gendarme, 
fiercely. 

"  Idiots  !"  I  thought  to  myself  ;  but  I  said  no  more 
until  the  cab  stopped  before  a  stone  gateway,  where 
a  trim-looking  soldier  paraded,  rifle  balanced  on  his 
right  shoulder. 

"Now,"  thought  I,  "for  the  famous  interrogation 
of  the  proces  verbal  /"  and  I  descended  jauntily  from 
the  cab,  knowing  that  a  word  with  any  intelligent 
official  would  place  things  in  a  very  different  aspect. 

Almost  at  once  I  found  myself  entering  a  great, 
square,  panelled  pen,  in  a  distant  corner  of  which  a 
little  shrunken  man  in  tarnished  uniform  was  appar 
ently  attempting  to  conceal  himself  behind  a  desk. 
He  popped  his  head  up,  then  ducked,  then  peeped 
at  me  around  corners  until  I  became  a  trifle  depress 
ed.  He  seemed  so  far  away,  so  small,  so  wizened, 
and  his  uniform  was  so  very  dusty. 

Uncertain  and  confused,  I  heard  somebody  charg 
ing  some  frightful  criminal  with  murderous  assault, 
treason,  espionage,  lunacy,  and  the  inciting  of  riots. 
And  presently  I  found  out  that  the  criminal  men 
tioned  was  I. 

Furious,  I  tried  to  interpose  ;  the  wizened  official 
instantly  ducked  under  his  desk,  and  I  waited  to  see 
him  come  up  again,  which  he  did  like  a  hell-diver, 
winking  and  shaking  his  head. 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"What  is  your  name  ?"  he  asked,  apparently  on  the 
point  of  diving  again. 

"  Will  you  kindly  listen  to  my  statement  ?"  I  said. 

" No,"  he  replied,  "you  listen  to  me  and  tell  me 
your  name." 

I  could  only  see  his  eyes  and  his  two  hands 
clutching  the  edge  of  the  blotter,  but  I  bowed  cer 
emoniously  to  these  fragments  of  official  ensemble, 
and  replied  : 

"  My  name  is  Gilbe/t  Hardy — " 

"  Eh  ?"  he  cried. 

"  Hardy !  Gilbert  Hardy,  Attache  of  the  Amer 
ican  Legation." 

"You  are  charged  with  meditating  assassination, 
assault,  and  inciting  to  riot.  Did  you  ?" 

"  What  ?  Riot  ?  Nonsense  !  I  demand  to  be  al 
lowed  to  communicate  with  the  United  States  Min 
ister." 

"You  fired  pistols,  eh?" 

"At  a  robber  who  robbed  me  in  the  train." 

"Eh?    Where  is  he?" 

"If  your  imbecile  police  had  given  me  a  chance  I 
might  have  helped  them  to  catch  him,"  I  replied. 

The  official  looked  blankly  at  me,  put  on  a  pair  of 
glasses,  looked  at  me  again,  and  finally  began  to  write, 
asking  me  question  after  question  which  I  refused  to 
answer,  and  which,  as  far  as  I  could  see,  had  no  bearing 
at  all  on  my  case.  He  insisted  that  I  was  a  German 
spy,  and  I  tried  in  vain  to  convince  him  otherwise. 
Threats,  persuasion,  taunts  were  useless.  I  offered  to 
show  him  letters,  papers  ;  he  would  not  listen. 

The  gendarmes  looked  knowingly  at  each  other 
and  whispered  behind  their  white-gloved  hands. 

26 


THE    SHADOW    ON    THE    WALL 

Sprechen  Sie  Deutsch  ?"  queried  the  official,  with 


covert  conning. 


"  Yes/''  I  replied  in  French;  "but  so  do  you,  and 
that  doesn't  prove  you  a  German,  does  it  ?  Send  to 
the  Legation.  I  demand  it ;  do  you  hear  ?" 

He  exhibited  symptoms  of  diving  again,  and  I  has 
tily  continued :  "I  am  an  American,  and  I  could  prove 
it  if  I  had  my  passport." 

"Oh,"  said  the  official,  "then  you  have  no  pass 
port  ?" 

I  remembered  Von  Elbe's  warning,  and  hesitated  to 
declare  that  I  possessed  a  passport  not  my  own. 

"  If  you  are  an  honest  man,  as  you  say,  do  you  wish 
to  prefer  a  charge  against  the  brigand  who  you  claim 
has  robbed  you?"  he  inquired,  suspiciously.  "Of 
course,"  he  added,  "you  will  be  fined  for  shooting 
your  pistol,  for  having  no  passport,  for  resisting 
arrest,  for  disturbing  the  peace  and  injuring  the  state 
railway,  and  for  collecting  a  crowd.  You  will  also 
pay  costs — " 

"  What  costs  ?"  I  asked,  trying  to  control  my  anger. 

"  The  cost  of  the  cab,  monsieur." 

I  swallowed  my  wrath  and  nodded. 

The  official  began  to  write  again,  pursing  up  his 
lips  as  though  whistling,  desisting  occasionally  to  lick 
them  and  look  over  the  rim  of  his  spectacles  at  me. 

"  You  will  be  escorted  to  the  American  Legation," 
he  said,  "after  you  describe  the  alleged  robber.  If 
you  are  what  you  say  you  are,  an  official  apology  will 
follow." 

I  gave  as  good  a  description  of  my  late  travelling 
companion  as  I  could,  at  first  sublimely  unconscious 
that  the  description  also  applied  to  me.  It  was  only 

27 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

in  the  altered  expressions  of  the  gendarmes  and  the 
growing  astonishment  of  the  official  that  I  became 
conscious  of  the  pit  I  was  digging  for  myself. 

I  tried  to  avoid  describing  myself,  but  I  couldn't ; 
for,  although  we  were  utterly  unlike,  the  same  terms 
identified  us  both. 

"  How  tall  was  he  ?"  demanded  the  official,  now 
thoroughly  roused  to  the  occasion. 

"About  five  feet  seven  inches/'  I  said,  getting  red. 
I  saw  the  gendarmes  mentally  calculating  my  height 
in  centimetres.  When  they  had  approximated  it  they 
also  betrayed  excitement. 

"How  old  was  he  ?"  faltered  the  official. 

"About  twenty-five." 

"  How  old  are  you  yourself  ?"  asked  the  official, 
controlling  his  voice  with  an  effort. 

"  How  old  am  I  ?"  I  repeated,  conscious  at  last 
that  my  stammering  and  hesitation  were  ruining  my 
character.  "  I  am  twenty — let  me  see — I  am  twenty- 
five  years  old." 

"  What  was  tfie  robber's  name  ?" 

"  Stanerl  Von  Elbe,"  I  said,  angrily  :  "  I  warn  you 
for  the  last  time  to  let  me  go." 

Then  to  my  amazement  a  remarkable  change  came 
over  the  official  and  the  gendarmes.  The  former 
climbed  hastily  dow*n  from  his  desk,  skipped  across 
the  polished  floor  to  where  I  stood  and  began  to  bow 
to  me,  taking  little  side-steps,  right  and  left,  like  the 
first  and  second  positions  in  dancing.  As  for  the 
gendarmes,  they  stood  in  a  row,  hands  raised  to  their 
shining  shakos  in  salute,  grinning  and  smirking  until 
I  began  to  believe  I  had  entered  Bedlam. 

"Pardon,  monsieur — a  million  pardons,"  said  the 
28 


THE    SHADOW    ON    THE    WALL 

official,  continuing  his  side-steps  and  bo  wing  repeated 
ly;  "  monsieur  was  expected  in  Luxembourg;  doubt 
less  monsieur  has  a  passport  identifying  monsieur. 
We  know  it — we  have  been  informed.  Alas,  monsieur, 
we  police  must  obey,  and  I  beg  monsieur  to  believe 
that  the  painful  necessity  of  temporarily  detaining 
monsieur  is  as  unwelcome  to  me  as  it  is  to  monsieur." 

I  looked  at  the  little  wizened  officer,  all  glittering 
with  dusty  tinsel ;  I  noted  the  grinning  row  of  auto 
matic  gendarmes,  hands  resting  against  their  polished 
shako-vizors.  It  was  like  a  scene  in  a  Christmas  shop 
window. 

"What  the  devil  are  you  doing  ?"  I  asked,  sternly. 

The  officer  bowed,  looked  aifable  ;  saw  I  was  angry, 
looked  sad. 

"  Will  Herr  Stanerl  Von  Elbe  have  the  goodness  to 
surrender  his  passport  for  a  moment  ?"  he  purred. 

"Do  you  take  me  for  Stanerl  Von  Elbe,  you  idiot  ?" 
I  asked. 

"Doubtless  not,  if  monsieur  so  wishes.  But  the 
passport — " 

"  Oh,  I  have  his  passport,  if  you  insist,"  I  said, 
knowing  it  was  useless  to  think  of  concealing  it ;  and 
I  drew  it  from  my  pocket  and  handed  it  to  the  officer. 

Like  a  ripple  on  water  a  second  grin  ran  around  the 
room  ;  the  officer  bowed  low,  opened  the  passport,  and 
began  to  read  it  aloud,  verifying  each  item  of  descrip 
tion  by  my  face : 

"Forehead,  medium;  eyes,  brown;  nose,  very 
slightly  upturned ;  mouth,  medium ;  chin,  round  ; 
hair,  brown  ;  complexion,  fair ;  face,  full ;  mustache, 
short,  light  brown."  And  then  he  came  to  the  signa 
ture  :  "Stanerl  Von  Elbe." 

29 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 


. . 


I  am  not  Stanerl  Von  Elbe/'  I  said,  "and  I  am 
becoming  tired  of  your  stupidity." 

"It  is  as  monsieur  wishes,"  replied  the  officer,  with 
a  bewildering  series  of  bows. 

"Oh,  is  it  ?  Well,  then,  I'm  Gilbert  Hardy,  Ameri 
can  ;  Lieutenant  in  the  Seventh  United  States  Cavalry, 
sent  here  by  my  government  to  act  as  Military  Attache 
to  my  Legation.  I  warn  you  to  let  me  go  at  once,  or 
stand  the  consequences." 

"Monsieur,  it  is  impossible." 

"Impossible  ?  Very  well.  I've  been  robbed  of  my 
passport,  threatened  with  a  pistol,  mauled  by  your 
imbecile  police,  and  arrested.  It  may  interest  the 
United  States  to  know  this." 

"Impossible,  monsieur." 

"  Oh,  is  it  ?" 

"Absolutely,"  he  said,  with  a  smirk;  "but  it  will 
interest  Germany." 

"Do  you  actually  take  me  for  that  thug,  Stanerl 
Von  Elbe  ?"  I  demanded. 

"  As  monsieur  wishes." 

"And — if  I  were  not  this  Stanerl  von  Elbe — if  I 
were  an  American  officer,  or  an  ordinary  American 
citizen,  you  would  release  me  ?" 

"Doubtless,  monsieur." 

It  was  then  I  realised  that  I  had  been  foolish.  In 
denouncing  my  Prussian  brigand  by  name  I  had 
brought  a  hornets'  nest  of  police  about  my  ears.  He 
had  warned  me  not  to — he  had  warned  me  not  to 
show  the  passport — he  had  warned  me  not  to  make  a 
scene.  I  had  certainly  made  a  scene  ;  that  led  to  my 
denouncing  him  by  name,  and  that  led  to  my  giving 
up  his  passport.  What  was  the  final  result  to  be  ? 

30 


THE    SHADOW    ON    THE    WALL 

"Yon  don't  intend  to  imprison  me,  I  suppose  ?"  I 
said,  incredulously. 

"  Temporarily,  monsieur." 

"How  long?" 

"  Monsieur  knows." 

"  No,  I  don't,  or  I  wouldn't  talk  to  you.    How  long  ?" 

"  Until  they  come." 

"  Until  they  come  ?" 

"Exactly." 

"•Whouelfcyf 

"  Monsieur  knows." 

"  Damnation !"  I  cried,  looking  helplessly  about. 
The  gendarmes  smirked,  to  a  man. 

And  they  did  as  they  threatened  ;  they  conducted 
me  to  a  room,  well  furnished,  but  barred  everywhere 
with  iron.  They  were  decent  enough  to  secure  my 
luggage  for  me  and  bring  it  to  me.  In  vain  I  showed 
them  letters  directed  to  me  under  my  proper  name ; 
in  vain  I  produced  my  photograph  taken  in  New 
York — in  vain  I  exhibited  underwear  marked  G.  H. 
They  turned  modestly  away  and  grinned  behind  their 
gloved  fingers.  I  showed  them  guarantees  of  my 
profession — my  uniforms,  my  helmet,  my  swords.  I 
talked  English  to  them,  I  dared  them  to  believe  me  a 
German.  They  looked  knowing,  and  saluted. 

"  Get  me  my  dinner  then  !"  I  said,  calmly,  and  sat 
down  on  a  sofa,  utterly  demoralised.  As  a  diplomat, 
my  future  looked  dubious. 

Dinner  was  served  by  police-waiters — an  elaborate 
dinner.  This  was  grateful,  and  as  they  uncorked  an 
excellent  bottle  of  Burgundy,  I  reflected  that  things 
might  have  been  worse  after  all.  They  brought  me 
cigarettes  and  cordials ;  they  turned  down  the  bed- 

31 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

quilts,  folded  my  wardrobe,  brought  hot  water,  set 
up  my  folding-tub,  and  finally  handed  me  the  even 
ing  paper — L' Independence  Luxembourg eoise — a  sheet 
chiefly  remarkable  for  the  quality  of  its  ink,  which 
came  off  the  paper  when  handled. 

When  the  police-valet  had  retired  on  tiptoe,  back 
ward,  I  lighted  a  cigarette,  looked  at  my  watch,  and 
then  started  on  a  cautious  tour  of  the  room.  On  the 
north  side  were  two  windows  ornamented  with  bars  of 
steel  painted  red.  I  could  not  see  through  the  win 
dows,  because  it  was  too  dark  outside,  but  I  had  an 
intuition  that  the  windows  opened  on  a  shaft. 

The  west  end  of  the  room  was  solid  stone.  My  bed 
stood  there.  The  east  wall  was  solid  and  featureless 
save  for  a  wash-stand  and  bureau.  At  first,  as  I  trav 
ersed  the  southern  side  of  the  room,  I  thought  the 
wall  was  merely  a  blank  waste  of  gray  stone,  but  a 
moment  later  I  noticed  a  shaft  of  brilliant  light  in 
the  corridor  outside,  and  I  investigated  the  opening 
with  alacrity.  The  orifice  was  not  a  window  ;  it  was 
a  slit  in  the  solid  stone,  about  a  foot  long  and  eight 
inches  high,  like  a  port-hole  one  sees  in  ancient  case 
mates.  Into  this  narrow  opening  was  fitted  a  wire 
screen,  such  as  are  used  in  kitchen  windows  to  dis 
courage  the  intrusion  of  flies. 

I  could  look  through  the  screen,  which  was  some 
what  lower  than  my  chin,  into  a  whitewashed  hall 
way,  where  an  electric  light  sputtered  and  glowed, 
now  tinged  with  violet,  now  with  the  faintest  rose. 

There  was  not  a  soul  in  the  corridor ;  one  or  two 
little  gray  moths  darted  about  the  electric  globe,  cast 
ing  enormous  shadows  on  wall  and  tiled  floor. 

I  went  back  to  the  centre  of  the  room  and  stood 
32 


THE    SHADOW    ON    THE   WALL 

there  thinking  until  my  legs  grew  tired  ;  so  I  sat 
down  on  the  edge  of  the  bed.  There  I  unlaced  both 
shoes  and  threw  them  at  the  wall. 

When  I  had  bathed  and  donned  slippers  and  pa 
jamas,  I  reached  up  and  turned  off  the  two  incandes 
cent  lamps  suspended  from  the  ceiling.  A  moment 
later,  wishing  to  look  at  my  watch  again,  I  turned 
the  lamps  up  once  more — or  I  tried  to.  The  keys 
turned  but  no  light  came.  Somebody  had  shut  off 
the  current. 

Now,  as  I  stood  there  in  the  dark  room  I  could 
look  quite  plainly  through  the  wire-gauze  screen  where 
the  corridor  gleamed  white  in  the  electric  glare  out 
side.  And  I  saw,  on  the  whitewashed  wall,  a  man's 
shadow,  motionless.  I  walked  noiselessly  to  the  screen 
and  tried  to  distinguish  who  it  might  be.  I  could 
only  see  the  shadow. 

"  It's  somebody  watching  me  through  some  crevice 
in  the  wall,"  I  thought.  Then  I  remembered  that, 
although  from  my  dark  room  I  was  perfectly  able  to 
see  the  lighted  corridor,  nobody  in  the  corridor  could 
see  me  through  the  screen,  or  through  any  crack  or 
peep-hole. 

As  I  stood  there,  nose  pressed  to  the  wire  screen, 
the  shadow  on  the  wall  was  joined  by  another  shadow 
— a  somewhat  confused  one,  yet  resembling  the  fig 
ure  of  a  woman  in  a  hood  and  long  cloak.  Then  I 
heard  voices — whispered  voices — but  every  word  was 
perfectly  distinct. 

"He  is  asleep;  he  has  turned  out  the  lights." 

"Then  you  must  wake  him,  Monsieur  Griroux." 

"I  dare  not." 

"You  dare  not  refuse." 
c  83 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

Presently  the  girlish  voice  repeated:  "You  dare 
not  refuse.  Wake  him,  Captain  Giroux." 

Steps  sounded  near  my  door;  I  cleared  the  dis 
tance  between  me  and  my  bed  in  a  second  and  feigned 
sleep. 

Somebody  knocked. 

I  was  silent. 

The  knocking  came  louder. 

I  bade  my  visitor  enter,  in  a  sleepy  voice,  and  sat 
up  in  bed,  striving  to  distinguish  his  features.  His 
voice  identified  him  as  the  official  who  had  incar 
cerated  me,  and  I  asked  him  what  the  mischief  he 
wanted. 

"Monsieur,"  he  whispered,  "I  am  not,  at  present, 
the  relentless,  stony-hearted  Captain  Giroux  of  offi 
cial  life.  Parbleu  !  I  am  human;  I  was  young  too, 
I — Giroux,  if  you  please  I" 

"Well,"  I  said,  astonished,  "what  is  that  to  me  ?" 

"It  is  everything,  monsieur.  You  shall  see.  Al 
though  as  Prefet  of  Police  in  Luxembourg  I  am  a  man 
of  iron — a  man  of  stone,  monsieur — in  private  life  I 
am  celebrated  for  my  sensitive  delicacy." 

"It  is  very  gratifying  to  know  that,"  said  I. 

"Parbleu  !  And,  although  I  have  arrested  you, 
although  I  must  hold  you  until  they  come,  although 
he  has  ordered  it,  I  am  not  inhuman.  Therefore,  be 
ing  a  man  of  iron,  yet  celebrated  for  my  sense  of  deli 
cacy,  I  have  let  pity's  counsels  prevail.  She  is  here  !" 

"  Is  she  indeed  ?"  I  replied. 

He  seemed  a  trifle  nonplussed  at  my  calmness. 
"She  is  outside,"  he  said  ;  "Til give  you  ten  minutes 
alone  together." 

"Not  here,"  I  interposed,  hastily. 

34  > 


THE    SHADOW    ON    THE    WALL 

"  I  should  think  not,"  he  protested.  "Hush,  mon 
sieur  !  If  I'm  caught  at  this  it  ends  my  official  career. 
Don't  move  until  I  close  the  door ;  then  go  softly  to 
the  screen.  She  will  be  there." 

I  watched  the  door  close  out  the  faint  ray  of  light, 
then  I  jumped  up  and  went  straight  to  the  wire 
screen.  A  moment  later  the  shadow  on  the  wall 
stirred  ;  I  heard  the  rustle  of  a  silken  cloak,  the  echo 
of  a  light  footfall,  and  then — and  then  ! — close  to  the 
screen  I  saw  a  dark,  lovely  head  and  a  pair  of  eyes 
to  witch  the  universe  and  make  saints  leave  home 
and  wife  and  progeny.  Kerne mber  that  I  was  very 
young. 

With  a  half  fearful  gesture  she  raised  one  small 
hand  and  laid  it  against  the  screen,  palm  towards  me. 

I  touched  it  with  my  lips. 

After  all,  I  was  in  Luxembourg  to  learn  what  I 
could  learn.  And  the  Secretary  of  War  had  said : 
"Keep  your  ears  and  your  eyes  open  and  make  your 
self  popular." 

So  I  began  to  do  so. 


CHAPTER  V 
A   SCAIILET   HOOD 

Setting  forth  logically  a  most  illogical  situation,  wherein  insult 
is  added  to  injury,  and  tJie  result  apparently  satisfies  a  lady 

Now  as  the  corridor  was  lighted  and  my  room  was 
dark,  and,  moreover,  as  the  screen  separated  us,  I  was 
in  a  position  to  observe  and  not  be  observed. 

Cloaked  and  hooded  as  she  was,  I  could  still  see  her 
face — dark,  oval,  exquisite,  framed  in  the  scarlet  lin 
ing  of  her  hood.  She  was  not  very  tall ;  she  raised 
her  pretty  figure  on  tiptoe  and  tried  vainly  to  distin 
guish  my  features  through  the  screen. 

As  she  still  rested  her  hand  against  the  wire-gauze 
frame,  I  improved  the  opportunity  and  chastely  sa 
luted  the  tip  of  the  middle  finger.  The  finger  was 
loaded  with  jewels. 

"Prison  life  in  Luxembourg/'  thought  I,  "has  its 
compensations.  I  certainly  can  stand  this  sort  of  in 
carceration."  And  I  kissed  her  wrist  through  the 
screen. 

She  sighed  ;  there  was  a  rustle  of  silken  stuffs,  the 
click  of  a  high-heeled  shoe  on  the  tiles. 

"  When  are  they  coming  ?"  she  asked,  in  a  hushed 
voice. 

"  I  don't  know/'  I  whispered,  truthfully,  in  reply. 

She  sighed  again  ;  her  hood  slipped  back  a  little, 
showing  a  single  curl  of  dark  hair. 


A    SCARLET    HOOD 

"  How  could  you  be  so  imprudent  ?"  she  said.  "  You 
might  have  known  the  Emperor  was  watching  you. 
Could  you  doubt  that  our  police  were  informed  and  on 
the  lookout  ?  I  do  not  ask  you  if  you  thought  of  me 
— if  you  considered  me  in  the  matter.  Men  are  selfish 
at  best,  and  when  passion  urges  them,  they  are  down 
right  brutal." 

I  listened  attentively,  quiet  as  a  mouse.  After  all, 
if  the  police  insisted  I  was  Stanerl  Von  Elbe,  the  least 
I  could  do  was  to  make  the  best  of  it  and  find  out  who 
he  was.  And  I  was  doing  it,  not  without  satisfaction  ; 
for,  in  the  account  betwixt  Monsieur  Stanerl  and  my 
self,  there  was  yet  a  long  balance  in  his  favour,  and  it 
would  require  more  than  a  kiss  through  a  screen  to 
even  it  up. 

"Why  do  you  say  I  am  brutal  ?"  I  whispered. 

' '  Can  you  ask  ?"  she  replied,  with  spirit.  "  Has  not 
our  friendship  given  me  some  right  to  suffer  if  you  are 
disgraced  ?  Why  did  you  come  to  Luxembourg  ?  You 
need  not  answer — it  would  shame  me  to  hear  it.  Yet 
I  know  why  you  came,  and  if  an  outcry  is  raised  over 
this  unfortunate  affair  all  the  world  will  know.  You 
may  not  care,  but  think  what  it  would  be  to  me  I" 

"  What  would  it  be  to  you  ?"  I  asked,  naively. 

She  drew  back  ;  for  a  moment  I  was  afraid  I  had 
frightened  her  away.  Presently,  however,  she  leaned 
close  to  the  screen  again  and  said  : 

"  By  coming  here  I  have  dared  more  for  you  than  I 
ever  have  for  any  living  soul.  If  it  were  known,  the 
world  would  misunderstand  it.  But " — and  here  she 
clinched  both  little  fists — "but  I  dare  you  to  misun 
derstand  my  visit !" 

As  I  did  not  understand  her  visit,  naturally  I  had 
37 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

no  chance  to  misunderstand  it.     I  thought   silence 
was  the  best  policy  for  the  moment. 

"I  only  came,"  she  continued,  "because,  perhaps, 
we  may  never  meet  again." 

"  Don't  say  that,"  I  urged,  with  unaffected  earnest 
ness. 

"  It  is  your  fault,"  she  said  ;  "  it  is  the  natural  con 
sequence  of  your  rash  attempt  to  enter  Luxembourg. 
You  must  have  known  what  you  risked.  You  did  not 
think  it  worth  considering.  And  now  all  is  ended." 

"No,  no,"  I  protested. 

' '  You  can  never  again  enter  Luxembourg,"  she  in 
sisted.  "Do  you  think  the  Emperor  would  permit 
it?" 

"  Hang  the  Emperor,"  I  said. 

She  seemed  so  horrified  that  I  said  I  didn't  mean  it. 

"You  are  so  reckless,"  she  sighed.  "You  have 
risked  all  for  this  caprice — all  ! — honour,  position,  the 
confidence  of  a  nation — and,  least  of  all,  my  poor  lit 
tle  friendship."  She  clinched  her  hands  again  and 
said,  fiercely  :  "  I  am  glad  you  can  never  come  back — 
if  it  is  the  love  of  that  woman  that  drags  you  back  !" 

I  said  nothing.     What  on  earth  was  there  to  say  ? 

"I  defy  you  to  misconstrue  my  friendship  for  you," 
she  went  on,  rapidly.  "  You  have  not  lost  all  sense  of 
decency,  and  I  know  you  dare  not  think  that  any 
thing  but  the  purest  friendship  has  urged  me  to 
speak.  Answer  me." 

"  But,"  said  I,  grasping  at  what  I  thought  must  be 
my  cue,  "you  know  that  I  adore  you." 

The  change  that  came  over  her  deprived  me  of 
speech.  She  turned  white  as  death,  and  raised  one 
hand  as  though  to  shield  herself. 

38 


A    SCARLET    HOOD 

"Don't  look  like  that,  for  Heaven's  sake,"  I  whis 
pered  ;  "is  it  strange  that  I  should  love  yon  ?  Is  it 
wonderful  that  any  man  should  love  you  ?  Show  me 
a  human  creature/7 1  cried,  excitedly,  "  who  wouldn't 
fall  down  and  worship  you  at  first  sight !" 

It  was  here  that  I  forgot  I  was  a  diplomat. 

She  seemed  absolutely  bereft  of  strength.  She 
leaned  on  the  wall,  both  hands  covering  her  face ;  and  I 
saw  her  bosom  rise  and  fall  under  the  silken  cloak,  and 
her  red  lips  quivering  pitifully.  As  her  head  rested 
on  the  screen,  I  kissed  her  hair.  At  last  she  raised 
her  head,  and  I  saw  her  eyes,  bright  with  tears,  fixed 
on  the  darkness  where  I  stood. 

"What  you  say  is  an  insult,"  she  said,  "yet  I 
thank  God  I  have  heard  it  before  I  died.  Now,  in 
truth,  we  can  never  meet  again.  As  for  me,  I  have 
lived  the  sweetest  and  bitterest  second  a  woman  may 
know.  I  go  away  humiliated  by  you,  thanking  God 
for  the  humiliation.  For  I  love  you ;  and  this  mo 
ment  ends  all." 

She  touched  her  eyes  with  her  fingers,  unconscious 
ly,  like  a  child.  The  jewelled  rings  glimmered. 

"Don't  go,"  I  stammered,  overcome  by  what  I  had 
done,  and  cursing  myself  for  a  meddling  ass.  My 
idle  vindictiveness,  my  thoughtless  desire  to  amuse 
myself  at  Stanerl  Von  Elbe's  expense,  my  inborn  love 
for  reckless  diversion,  had  made  an  innocent  girl 
miserable,  perhaps  for  life.  Nor  had  I  the  faintest 
idea  why  she  should  be  unhappy,  nor  did  I  know 
how  to  repair  the  results  of  my  imbecile  thoughtless 
ness. 

"  Why  should  you  go  ?"  I  said,  determined  to  tell 
her  who  I  really  was.  Bat  she  moved  back  from  the 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

screen  with  a  gesture  of  horror,  and  I  hesitated  to  an 
nounce  my  identity  at  the  top  of  my  voice. 

"Come  to  the  screen,"  I  urged,  "I  beg  of  you. 
Listen — I  implore  you  to  grant  me  one  moment  more. 
It  is  your  duty." 

"Duty,"  she  said ;  "my  duty  is  not  to  you  but  to 
my  husband.'" 

"Oh,  Lord/'  I  thought,  "there's  a  husband  too  !" 

Suddenly  she  stepped  to  the  window  again ;  I  caught 
the  flash  of  a  tiny  dagger,  there  came  a  harsh  sound  of 
ripping,  then,  through  the  slash  in  the  wire  gauze, 
her  hand  appeared,  holding  out  a  ring. 

"  Take  it,"  she  whispered ;  "  don't  forget  me." 

I  seized  her  hand ;  the  ring  fell  into  my  palm. 

"  Don't  forget  me,"  she  panted  ;  "if  I  am  selfish  I 
cannot  help  it.  I  cannot  bid  you  forget  me.  If  you 
loved  another  and  were  happy  it  would  kill  me.  I 
only  know  one  kind  of  love,  the  love  that  desires  pos 
session,  the  love  that  is  not  ashamed,  the  love  that  is 
jealous  !  I  can  endure  the  years  to  come — if  you  love 
me ;  I  cannot  if  you  forget." 

She  drew  her  hand  away.  "  I  am  a  wife ;  you  are 
free,  you  have  the  world  to  choose  from.  Yet,  hope 
less,  separate  from  you  forever,  I  bid  you  love  me  ! 
It  is  not  your  happiness  that  I  would  die  for;  it  is 
your  happiness  in  me — in  me — that  I  could  give  my 
life  for.  If  that  is  a  selfish  love — at  least  it  is  love. 
And  love  is  the  rarest  thing  in  the  world !" 

She  bent  her  head  closer  to  the  screen  :  "And  a 
rare  thing  in  the  world  is  a  rebellious  heart  and  a 
blameless  life.  That  is  what  my  love  means  also." 

She  was  sobbing  now. 

"I  am  too  weak  to  struggle  against  loving  you ;  I 
40 


A    SCARLET    HOOD 

am  too  selfish  to  wish  you  happiness  in  another's 
love ;  I  am  too  pure  to  sin  through  my  love  for  you. 
If  then  this  love  of  mine  is  an  unworthy  thing,  it 
is  a  woman's  love — it  is  her  soul,  body,  and  hope  of 
heaven,  her  waking  thought,  her  dream,  her  dying 
memory.  I  have  never  had  it  from  my  husband ;  I 
give  it  to  you  ;  I  ask  it  from  you  !" 

The  next  moment  a  heavy  scraping  sounded  on  the 
tiles  close  at  hand  ;  there  came  the  shuffle  of  feet,  a 
murmur,  a  voice : 

"  Where  is  the  Prefet  ?" 

"  Here,"  quavered  Giroux,  from  my  doorway,  hast 
ening  through  the  hall. 

"  Madame  !  madame  I"  he  whispered,  "  they  have 
come.  This  is  madness  !" 

"I  am  going/'  she  said,  quietly.  She  turned  and 
looked  full  at  the  screen  behind  which  I  stood.  I 
shall  never  forget  her  face. 

The  next  instant  she  had  vanished,  and  a  moment 
later  a  confused  procession  of  shadows  passed  across 
the  white  wall  before  me  and  I  heard  the  murmur  of 
voices  at  my  door. 


CHAPTER  VI 

AN   UNPLEASANT  DISCOVERY 

Containing  a  revelation,  concerning  two  people,  which  I  had  no 
business  to  hear 

SNUGLY  tucked  away  in  bed,  I  drew  the  sheets  up 
above  my  chin  until  nothing  of  me  remained  visible 
except  my  eyes.  I  heard  knocking  at  the  door,  but 
paid  no  heed.  Whoever  was  outside,  knocking  at  my 
door,  had  come,  no  doubt,  to  pump  me  concerning 
Stanerl  Von  Elbe — that  I  felt  certain  of — and  I  had 
already  made  up  my  mind  to  remain  silent.  "For," 
thought  I,  "  I  have  done  enough  damage  to  my  friend, 
the  enemy,  and  incidentally  to  the  young  lady  in  the 
scarlet  hood,  and  Fm  sorry  I  found  it  impossible  to 
mind  my  own  business." 

About  this  time  the  door  opened.  Looking  over 
the  edge  of  the  sheets  I  saw  Captain  Giroux  enter  the 
room,  carrying  a  lighted  lamp,  followed  closely  by  two 
strangers. 

Giroux  tiptoed  towards  my  toilet  -  table,  set  the 
lamp  there,  looked  at  the  bed  where  I  lay,  caught 
my  eye,  and  sidled  forward  with  a  deprecating  gest 
ure. 

"  They  have  come,  monsieur,"  he  said,  apparently 
ill  at  ease  ;  "  they  have  arrived  this  moment  from  the 
frontier." 

"  It's  very  thoughtful  of  them,"  I  replied,  ' '  and  you 
42 


AN    UNPLEASANT    DISCOVERY 

can  send  them  back  again  at  your  convenience.  Am 
I  going  to  get  any  sleep,  or  not  ?" 

"Monsieur,"  protested  Giroux,  casting  appealing 
glances  at  the  two  strangers,  who,  hats  in  hand,  stood 
at  the  door,  "I  cannot  refuse  to  receive  these  gentle 
men." 

"I  can,"  I  said.     "I'm  going  to  sleep." 

"  But,"  stammered  Giroux,  hopping  from  one  foot 
to  the  other  in  his  anxiety,  "this  is  Herr  Wiepert  and 
this  is  Herr  Vossburg." 

"  Don't  know  'em,"  I  said,  shortly. 

Wiepert,  the  tall,  red-eyed  fellow,  fixed  a  pair  of 
sepulchral  eyes  on  me  and  wagged  his  head. 

"  By  the  Emperor's  orders,"  he  said,  entering  the 
room. 

The  other,  Vossburg,  a  living  caricature  of  an  un 
tidy  Santa  Claus,  began  to  titter  in  a  high,  cracked 
voice,  repeating,  "  Yes,  yes,  by  the  Emperor's  orders — 
te-he  !  te-he-he  !" 

Wiepert,  holding  his  black-banded  hat  like  an  un 
dertaker  who  assists  at  the  last  sad  rites,  glided 
solemnly  towards  Giroux,  who  immediately  backed 
away.  Wiepert,  however,  cornered  him,  and  I  heard 
them  muttering  and  fumbling  with  a  batch  of  papers, 
most  of  which  bore  red,  black,  and  gold  ribbons  and 
seals.  And  all  the  while  old  Father  Christmas,  or 
Vossburg,  kept  his  pale,  red  -  rimmed,  watery  eyes 
on  me. 

At  first  glance  his  white  hair  and  silvery  beard,  his 
ruddy  round  cheeks  and  symmetrical  features,  had 
impressed  me  as  hale,  kindly  old  age  always  im 
presses  the  young.  The  next  second  I  was  conscious 
of  something  sinister  in  the  old  man's  face,  something 

43 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

uncanny,,  almost  repulsive.  His  frowsy  hair  and  beard 
were  not  clean  white  ;  they  were  unpleasantly  fluffy, 
like  chemically  treated  wool  on  toy  sheep.  His  eyes 
were  slitted  and  sly ;  he  peered  with  them  furtively. 
His  ruddy  cheeks,,  too,  were  all  streaked  and  distended 
with  purple  veins,  and  his  stocky  body  seemed  too 
puffy  for  his  thin  short  legs. 

Looking  up  at  him  I  said,  without  emotion  :  "  I 
don't  like  you,  Father  Christmas — no,  I  don't,  and  I 
wouldn't  trust  you  with  a  button,  so  you  had  much 
better  go  away." 

He  tittered  in  his  thin,  cracked  voice,  but  said 
nothing ;  and  presently  Wiepert  stole  noiselessly  to 
my  bedside,  bearing  a  bundle  of  documents  as  though 
he  carried  a  floral  offering  to  a  tomb. 

"By  the  Emperor's  orders,"  he  said  again,  dropping 
his  black  eyes  to  the  bundle  of  papers,  then  stealing  a 
reproachful  glance  at  me. 

"By  whose  orders  ?"  I  asked. 

"By  the  Emperor's  orders,"  he  repeated,  "your 
Highness  is  under  arrest." 

I  lay  perfectly  still. 

"  Your  Highness  is  doubtless  aware,"  continued 
Wiepert,  "that  his  Majesty  knows  all.  His  Majesty, 
the  Emperor,  therefore  summons  your  Highness  to 
Berlin  without  delay." 

After  a  moment  I  said  :  "  For  whom  do  you  take 
me?" 

"  For  Herr  Stanerl  Von  Elbe,  if  your  Highness  in 
sists,"  said  Wiepert,  cringing  low,  and  preparing  to 
further  abase  himself. 

"  I  don't  insist,"  I  said  ;  "  tell  me  who  else  I  am." 

Vossburg  leered  at  me  and  chuckled ;  Wiepert,  at 
44 


AN    UNPLEASANT    DISCOVERY 

first  confused,  recovered  his  composure  and,  unroll 
ing  StanerFs  passport,  read  the  description  of  the 
bearer  without  comment. 

"Well,"  I  said,  patiently,  "whom  does  that  pass 
port  describe  ?" 

"  It  appears  to  describe  your  Highness,"  quavered 
old  Vossburg,  his  purple-veined  cheeks  swelling  with 
suppressed  chuckles. 

"Tell  me  for  whom  you  take  me,"  I  said,  sharply, 
"  and  hurry  about  it,  or  I  shall  turn  over  and  go  to 
sleep  !" 

Wiepert,  much  disconcerted,  looked  at  Giroux, 
then,  bending  close  to  my  pillow,  muttered  : 

"We  all  know  you  to  be  his  Highness  Prince  Edric, 
of  Prussia." 

For  ten  minutes  I  lay  there  in  speechless  astonish 
ment,  covered  to  the  eyes  with  the  bedclothes,  trying 
to  comprehend  clearly  what  was  best  to  do.  That  I 
had  placed  Stanerl  Von  Elbe,  or  rather,  Prince  Edric, 
of  Prussia,  in  a  most  embarrassing  position  was  clear 
enough.  Who,  then,  could  the  young  lady  in  the 
scarlet  hood  have  been  ?  Surely  not  the  beautiful 
Luxembourg  peasant  girl,  for  whom  people  said 
Prince  Edric  had  honourable  intentions,  notwithstand 
ing  the  grief  that  such  intentions  caused  the  German 
Emperor.  So,  after  all,  my  highwayman  was  an  hon 
ourable  man,  probably  driven  to  desperation  by  the 
telegram  I  saw  him  reading,  warning  him  he  was  to 
be  arrested  on  reaching  Luxembourg. 

If  he  had  only  told  me  why  he  needed  my  passport 
I  would  have  given  it  to  him  gladly.  More  than  that, 
I  would  have  openly  courted  arrest  to  give  him  a 
chance  to  get  out  of  the  city. 

45 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

Now  I  had  succeeded  in  poking  my  nose  into  mat 
ters  that  did  not  concern  me  ;  I  had  impersonated 
Prince  Edric  and  kissed  a  young  lady  in  a  scarlet  hood 
and  told  her  I  adored  her — a  pleasant  prospect  for 
Prince  Edric. 

Out  of  the  corner  of  one  eye  I  watched  Wiepert 
and  old  Vossburg.  They  were  nosing  about  the  room, 
peeping  at  my  trunk  and  satchel,  while  Captain  Gi- 
roux  paced  to  and  fro  before  the  door,  arms  folded, 
head  bent. 

"  Captain  !"  I  called. 

He  started,  then  came  to  the  bedside  like  a  guilty 
hound. 

"  So  you  arrested  me  and  held  me  for  the  Em 
peror's  bailiffs  ?" 

"Highness  !" — he  protested. 

"  Don't  be  frightened ;  wait  until  I  give  you  reason 
for  fright.  Who  was  that  lady  who  came  here  an 
hour  ago  ?" 

Giroux's  eyes  opened  appealingly. 

"  Tell  me,"  I  repeated. 

"  Your  Highness  knows  as  well  as  I." 

"  Never  mind  !     Tell  me." 

But  Giroux,  casting  a  horrified  glance  at  me,  fled  to 
the  corridor,  where  he  alternately  stood  on  either  foot 
and  peeped  through  the  door  at  intervals. 

"I  can't  stand  this,"  I  muttered,  and  I  sat  up  in 
bed  and  turned  my  face  full  on  Wiepert  and  Vossburg. 

"Am  I  Prince  Edric,  of  Prussia  ?"  I  demanded. 

The  effect  on  old  Vossburg  was  most  unpleasant ; 
he  squeaked  like  a  startled  rat.  As  for  Wiepert,  he 
gaped  at  me,  opening  and  shutting  his  lantern-jaws 
until  I  hurled  a  pillow  at  him. 

46 


AN    UNPLEASANT    DISCOVERY 

"  Who  are  you  ?"  stammered  Wiepert,  too  amazed 
to  avoid  the  pillow. 

"None  of  your  business  !"  I  said.  "  Take  that  evil 
old  man  and  go,  or  I'll  throw  you  out !" 

I  should  not  have  taken  such  a  tone;  I  understood 
it  a  moment  later ;  for  old  Vossburg  began  to  chat 
ter  and  mouth  and  point  at  me,  and  Wiepert  scowled 
until  his  dull  eyes  were  almost  buried  under  his 
swarthy  brows. 

"  Where  is  the  Prince  ?"  he  said,  harshly. 

"  Go  to  the  devil !"  I  retorted.  The  next  second 
he  seized  me,  and  I  struggled  out  of  bed  and  dealt 
him  a  sharp,  clean  blow  that  made  him  howl.  Then, 
to  my  amazement,  old  Vossburg  caught  me  in  a  grip 
of  steel.  In  vain  I  writhed  and  wriggled,  not  wish 
ing  to  do  violence  to  an  old  man.  But  his  age  was 
a  deception ;  his  thin,  unsteady  legs  grew  rigid  as 
iron,  and  his  trembling,  puffy  hands  held  me  like  vices. 

"  One  movement  and  I'll  throttle  you,"  he  snarled. 
His  sheep's-wool  hair  and  beard,  his  purple  face,  his 
moist,  sly  eyes — his  whole  loathsome  mask  of  aged 
benignity  suddenly  became  horrible  to  me.  I  twist 
ed  and  tugged,  striving  to  escape  from  his  repulsive 
grip  ;  I  could  not  budge  an  inch. 

Giroux,  who  had  run  into  the  room,  danced  about 
us,  wringing  his  hands.  Wiepert,  instantaneously 
decorated  with  a  promising  black  eye,  moaned  and 
ground  his  teeth. 

"  Let  go  !"  I  panted,  shrinking  from  the  old  creat 
ure  ;  "let  go  or  I'll  forget  your  age,  I  tell  you  I" 

His  answer  was  to  hurl  me  bodily  against  the  wall — 
a  most  unpleasant  sensation,  but  welcome  because  it 
freed  me  from  his  revolting  proximity. 
47 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"As  for  yon,"  quavered  Vossbnrg,  mouthing  and 
grimacing  at  Giroux,  who  stood  petrified  by  the  bed — 
"as  for  you,  you  thick-headed  Luxembourg  ass,  you'll 
hear  from  the  Emperor,  and  from  your  own  sovereign 
too  !  You've  let  the  Prince  escape  and  arrested  his 
Yankee  valet.  You  fool !" 

"By  Heaven!"  I  said,  "if  you  were  not  the  old 
bag  of  wool  and  bones  that  you  are,  I'd  take  a  stick 
to  you  as  substitute  for  your  Emperor  !" 

"Lose  Majeste  !"  bawled  Wiepert.  "Arrest  him ! — 
hold  him—" 

I  picked  up  a  riding-crop  and  started  for  Wiepert, 
who  promptly  dodged  behind  old  Vossburg. 

The  impossibility  of  raising  a  hand  against  Voss- 
burg's  discoloured  white  head,  the  knowledge  that 
those  puffy  purple  hands  and  palsied  legs  concealed 
almost  superhuman  strength,  left  me  helpless.  He 
was  more  than  a  match  for  me,  yet,  without  affecta 
tion,  I  say  now  that  had  it  not  been  for  his  age  I 
should  have  sailed  into  all  three  of  them  without 
reflection. 

He  leered  at  me,  and  laughed  his  cracked  falsetto 
laugh. 

"  The  Yankee  valet — te-he  !  te-he  ! — the  Emperor 
shall  know  that  too — yes,  yes,  the  Emperor  I" 

I  said,  more  calmly  :  "If  you  want  to  avoid  trouble, 
you  had  better  leave  this  room,  otherwise  the  Amer 
ican  Minister  might  make  inquiries  why  a  couple  of 
German  flunkies  should  cause  an  American  officer  to 
be  arrested  by  a  Luxembourg  policeman." 

Wiepert,  whose  eye  was  already  a  splendid  study 
in  thunder-cloud  tints,  shook  his  fist  at  me,  then  at 
Giroux,  and  left  the  room.  Old  Vossburg  crinkled 

48 


AN    UNPLEASANT    DISCOVERY 

his  hands  up  like  claws,  and  fairly  pranced  with 
fury. 

"Very  well/'  he  squealed,  "we  shall  know  what 
to  do — the  Emperor  will  know  what  is  to  be  done. 
Captain  Giroux,  you  are  responsible  for  the  escape  of 
his  Highness.  You  will  hear  of  this  later,  te-he  ! — 
yes,  later — all  in  good  time,  Captain  Giroux." 

And  suddenly  becoming  an  old  man  again,  he  tot 
tered  away,  laughing  his  shrill,  cracked,  treble  laugh 
until  the  last  echo  died  away  far  down  the  white 
washed  corridor. 

I  looked  uncertainly  at  Giroux.  He  returned  my 
gaze,  at  first  blankly ;  then  fury  seized  him,  and  he 
drew  his  sabre  and  shook  it  in  my  face. 

"  How  dared  you — how  dared  you  impersonate  the 
Prince  ?"  he  shouted,  choking  with  passion  and  fright. 

"You  fool,"  I  said,  "didn't  I  tell  you  I  was  not 
Von  Elbe  ?" 

"Do  you  know  who  the  lady  was?"  he  howled, 
threatening  me  with  his  sabre.  "  I'm  ruined  !  Do 
you  know  who  she  was,  you  crazy  Yankee  ?" 

"  No,"  I  said,  keeping  clear  of  his  sabre ;  "  and  if 
you  touch  me  with  your  sword  Fll  settle  you  once  and 
for  all,  you  little  Belgian  manikin  !" 

After  a  few  moments'  passionate  dancing,  he 
sheathed  his  sabre  and  began  to  weep ;  tears  trickled 
over  his  gold-laced  tunic  ;  he  wiped  his  eyes  on  a  gold- 
banded  cuff. 

"It's  your  own  fault,"  said  I,  sitting  down  on  the 
edge  of  the  bed  ;  "I'm  sorry  I  interviewed  the  young 
lady  in  the  scarlet  hood  ;  I'm  sorry  I  kissed  her — " 

"  The  Duchess  !"  he  shrieked,  bounding  up.    "  You 
kissed  the  Grand  Duchess  of  Luxembourg  \" 
D  49 


TPIE    CONSPIRATORS 

"The  Duchess  !"  I  gasped. 

He  tried  to  scream  ;  terror  paralysed  him. 

"  Idiot !"  I  said,  tf  I  kissed  my  hand  to  her.  Do  you 
understand  your  native  tongue  ?  If  you  do,  hold  it." 

Nevertheless  the  enormity  of  my  offence — for  I  had 
kissed  the  Duchess  again  when  she  gave  me  the  ring — 
made  me  a  trifle  light-headed. 

"Here,"  said  I  to  myself,  "ends  my  promising 
diplomatic  career." 

Meanwhile  Giroux  held  his  head  in  one  hand  and 
beat  it  with  the  other  at  intervals. 

I  leaned  over  and  shook  him  by  both  shoulders  un 
til  his  spurs  jingled. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THIS   AMUSING   WORLD! 

Being  a  further  history  of  my  interference  with  other  people's 
business,  and  other  people's  interference  with  mine,  and  in 
cidentally  treating  of  an  absurdly  logical  paradox 

"  CAPTAIN  GIROUX,"  I  said,  "  when  yon  have  fin 
ished  your  contortions  I'll  have  a  word  or  two  with 
you." 

At  first  he  was  too  panic-stricken  to  listen,  but  I 
finally  quieted  him,  shoved  him  into  an  arm-chair  and 
placed  a  cigar  in  his  mouth.  He  sucked  it  spasmod 
ically  and  rolled  his  yellow,  frightened  eyes  at  me. 

I  said  :  l '  This  is  a  very  serious  matter.  You  have 
arrested  and  imprisoned  an  officer  of  the  United 
States  Army,  which  is  a  much  more  dreadful  thing 
than  you  suspect — a  great  deal  more  dreadful,  for  ex 
ample,  than  my  kissing  the  Grand  Duchess  Eulalie, 
of  Luxembourg — had  I  done  so." 

He  began  to  moan  again,  but  I  found  a  match  and 
lighted  the  cigar  in  his  mouth,  which  stopped  him. 

He  seemed  so  helpless,  so  unreal,  so  tinselled  and 
irresponsible  that  I  felt  like  saying,  "You  have  been  a 
very,  very  naughty  policeman  ;  I've  half  a  mind  to  put 
you  back  in  the  closet." 

"  You  see,"  I  continued,  "  I  know  you  are  sorry 
now,  and  although  I  am  inclined  to  be  angry,  it  is 
possible  that  I  might  forgive  you." 

^ 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"That  isn't  the  trouble/'  he  said,  "but  if  the 
Duchess  finds  out — " 

"  The  Duchess  won't  find  out/'  I  interrupted,  sharp 
ly,  "  unless  you  tell  her." 

He  shook  his  head  and  emitted  sounds. 

"Of  course/'  I  said,  "you  could  ruin  me  by  con 
fessing  to  the  Duchess." 

"  I  won't  ruin  you  if  you  don't  ruin  me,"  he  mut 
tered  ;  "but  I  know  how  men  boast  about  women." 

"  Imbecile,"  I  said,  frowning,  "do  honourable  men 
ever  discuss  women  ?" 

"  They  do  in  Germany/'  he  said,  sulkily  ;  "there's 
Count  Herbert—" 

"  There  is  a  difference," said  I,  "between  Tweedle- 
dee  and  Tweedle-dum,  contemporary  opinion  to  the 
contrary.  You  know  the  proverb  —  '  Prussians  are 
connecting  links  between  Frenchmen  and  human 
beings.' '; 

Apparently  my  suggestion  reassured  him  ;  he  sucked 
comfort  out  of  his  cigar  and  eyed  me  more  hopefully. 

"Now,"  said  I,  "sleep,  for  me,  is  out  of  the  ques 
tion.  It  is  morning,  anyway.  I  am  going  to  dress  ; 
you  are  going  to  have  my  luggage  sent  to  the  United 
States  Legation.  After  that,  if  you  and  your  absurd 
toy-shop  of  a  country  behave  yourselves,  nobody  will 
be  the  wiser  for  this  night's  misunderstanding.  But," 
I  continued,  "  if  you  or  your  nicely  varnished  brother 
toys  interfere  with  me  again,  I'll  stir  up  my  govern 
ment  and  then  you'll  all  certainly  go  to  smash." 

He  seemed  considerably  affected  ;  I  saw  he  was 
preparing  to  use  his  gilt-slashed  cuff. 

"  Don't  you  dare  weep  again  !"  I  added,  hastily ; 
"  there  is  going  to  be  no  trouble  if  you  mind  your 

52 


THIS    AMUSING    WORLD! 

own  affairs  with  half  the  enthusiasm  that  you  have 
minded  mine." 

"  What  shall  I  say  when  the  Duchess  questions 
me  ?"  he  asked,  in  a  shaky  voice. 

" About  what?" 

"  About  my  prisoner  ?" 

"You'll  lie/'  I  said. 

es  Lying  is  disgusting,"  I  continued,  "  except  among 
diplomats.  This  is  certainly  a  diplomatic  incident. 
However,  you  may  do  the  lying." 

"I  don't  mind/' he  said,  innocently,  "only  I  can't 
invent  any  way  for  you  to  escape." 

"  Can't  you  ?  Well,  I'll  manage  that.  There's  no 
liar  like  a  truthful  man,  believe  me.  See,  it's  day 
light  already.  Go  and  get  me  a  cab,  and  send  my  lug 
gage  to  the  Legation  while  I  am  dressing.  When 
you  come  back  I'll  show  you  how  to  lie  truthfully, 
my  friend." 

He  went  away,  trusting  implicitly  in  my  capacity 
for  untruthfulness,  and  I  started  to  shave,  turning 
out  the  electric  lights,  for  daylight  already  flooded 
the  room  and  I  could  see  perfectly  in  the  mirror. 
While  I  was  shaving,  two  railway  porters  came  and 
took  away  my  luggage. 

I  finished  my  toilet,  dressed  carefully,  turned  down 
the  bed-linen,  selected  a  nice  strong  pair  of  sheets, 
and  deliberately  ripped  them  into  long  strips.  When 
I  had  fashioned  some  home-made  ropes  out  of  these, 
I  sat  down  again  on  the  edge  of  the  bed  and  waited 
for  Captain  Giroux. 

He  came  presently  to  announce  the  cab.  I  rose, 
displaying  the  ropes. 

"I  know,"  he  said,  while  a  pale  flicker  of  intelli- 

53 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

gence  lighted  up  his  foolish  face.  "  You're  going  to 
tie  them  to  the  bars  at  the  window.  That  will  be 
funny." 

"Nonsense!"  I  said.  "Nobody  would  believe  I 
squeezed  through  those  iron  bars.  I  know  some 
thing  funnier  yet.  Come  here." 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  ?"  he  asked,  uneasily. 

I  started  for  him  ;  he  ran,  but  I  caught  him  before 
he  reached  the  door.  Then,  despite  kicks  and  screams, 
I  tied  the  Prefet  of  Police  to  the  bedpost  and  swathed 
him  like  a  mummy  from  head  to  toe. 

"Now,"  I  said,  "they  will  believe  you  when  you 
tell  them  I  did  this.  It  will  be  true  also,  which  ought 
to  console  you." 

He  made  a  great  many  kinds  of  noise  ;  I  told  him 
he  was  ungrateful. 

"I  am  a  man,"  said  I,  "celebrated  for  the  delicacy 
of  my  disposition,  and  if  you  will  stop  bleating  long 
enough,  I  will  place  a  cigar  in  your  mouth  and  light 
it." 

He  did  not  appear  to  care  for  it,  but  I  placed  the 
cigar  in  his  mouth,  lighted  it,  thanked  him  for  my 
night's  lodging,  and  went  out  cheerfully,  slamming 
the  iron  door. 

Down-stairs,  under  a  gray  stone  archway,  I  found 
the  cab.  Some  policemen  aided  me  to  mount.  I 
thanked  them,  and  gave  the  address  : 

"American  Legation,  No.  7  Boulevard  du  Viaduc. 
Drive  fast  !" 

The  sun  was  well  up  as  we  crossed  the  railroad 
tracks  and  came  out  behind  the  station.  I  drew  a 
deep  breath  of  clean  sweet  air — oh,  how  sweet  it  blew 
from  the  meadows  where  the  cattle  stood,  chest  deep, 

54 


THIS    AMUSING    WORLD! 

in  tall  Belgian  clover,  purple  and  carmine,  silvered 
by  the  dew ! 

Then,  as  we  rounded  the  freight  sheds,  the  city 
burst  into  view — Luxembourg,  terraced  and  girdled 
with  white  walls,  a  fragment  of  the  middle  ages  swim 
ming  in  pale  sunshine;  an  unreal  city  in  commonplace, 
wearied  Europe;  a  mirage  of  romance  in  a  sordid 
world. 

There  it  glimmered,  crowning  the  plateau,  spire 
and  dome  and  tiled  roof  sparkling  in  the  sun,  the 
tinted  morning  shadows  playing  over  bastion  and  wall, 
fortified  causeway,  battlement,  and  barbette. 

On  three  sides  of  the  city  the  perpendicular  rock 
fell  away  hundreds  of  feet  sheer,  where,  deep  below 
in  the  ravine,  I  heard  water  gushing  over  stones,  and 
the  sigh  and  sough  of  the  wind  through  the  hidden 
foliage. 

"It  is  the  Alzette  River  we  hear,  monsieur,"  said 
the  coachman,  leaning  over  and  pointing  down  the 
gorge.  "  The  lower  city  lies  there  below  ;  the  city  on 
the  rocks  above  was  but  a  citadel  in  former  days." 

"Drive  slowly,"  I  said,  under  my  breath,  for  the 
spell  of  the  scene  was  upon  me. 

Exquisite,  unreal,  the  terraced  heights,  over  which 
raced  the  shadows  of  white  clouds,  seemed  deserted  ; 
empty  and  tenantless  watch-tower  and  parapet ;  the 
vague  city  silent  and  hushed  as  in  strange  mazed 
dreams  of  sorcery.  And  it  was  sorcery,  this  miraged 
land  of  miniatures,  this  frail  fantastic  city,  this  rocky 
gorge  where  a  painted  stream  foamed  under  painted 
trees,  where  quaintly  lined  houses  and  mills  with  little 
wheels  turning  gave  to  the  composition  its  naive  and 
delicate  monotony. 

55 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

And  now  we  came  nearer,  and  as  we  drove  onto  the 
great  viaduct  that  spans  the  ravine  from  the  railroad 
to  the  city,  I  saw  the  ruin  that  lay  over  all — the  ghost 
of  former  power  and  strength,  the  mockery  of  dis 
mantled  battlement,  turret,  and  barbette. 

For  the  walled  causeway  was  defenceless  ;  the  loop- 
holed  gate-lodge  but  a  shell ;  the  cannon  that  turned 
their  flaring  muzzles  to  the  south  were  ancient  bits  of 
green  bronze,  laboriously  wrought  and  chased,  sunk 
to  the  chiseled  trunnions  in  mouldy  oaken  blocks. 

And  now  I  saw  people :  fresh- faced  girls,  bearing 
tin  milk-pails,  flocked  across  the  bridge  ;  trim  soldiers 
in  blue  and  scarlet  marched  briskly  two  by  two,  about 
somebody's  business — perhaps  their  own.  Deep  in  the 
ravine  below  ducks  quacked  and  flapped  white  pin 
ions  ;  the  churning  splash  of  turning  mill-wheels,  the 
softened  concord  of  voices,  the  sigh  and  whisper  and 
stir  of  leafy  depths  through  which  tiny  houses  gleamed, 
and  the  blue  sky  over  all — this  was  Luxembourg  as  I 
entered  the  causeway — a  whole  toy-store  come  to  life, 
a  naive  water-colour  with  mechanical  mill-wheels  and 
rocking  boats,  an  enchanted  Noah's  ark  collection, 
trees,  cattle,  and  people  newly  painted.  I  could 
almost  sniff  glue  and  varnish  in  the  aromatic  August 
breeze. 

Then  into  this  impossible  landscape,  this  absurdly 
delightful  paradox  of  a  country,  came  a  relic  of  yes 
terday — a  horse-car,  jingling  serenely  over  the  bridge 
towards  the  city,  carrying  a  single  passenger.  A 
young  girl,  with  dainty  Dresden-china  features,  held 
up  one  rosy  porcelain  finger  ;  the  car  stopped,  she  got 
in,  then  jingle !  jingle  !  jingle  !  it  moved  mechanically 
on  towards  the  walls  of  that  enchanted,  that  ex- 

56 


THIS    AMUSING    WORLD! 

quisitely  irrational  actuality  —  the  city  of  Luxem 
bourg. 

If  a  great  hand  had  suddenly  descended  from  above 
and  gathered  up  city,  trees,  and  people,  and  laid  them 
back  in  their  boxes,  it  would  scarcely  have  surprised  me. 

But  now  we  drove  slowly  into  the  city  itself,  through 
a  gateway  where  two  prettily  uniformed  soldiers 
smoked  scented  cigarettes ;  and  I  saw  before  me  an 
unpaved  square  like  a  country  market-place,  alive 
with  pink-cheeked  women  whose  wooden  shoes  clicked 
like  the  interminable  rhythm  of  castanets  as  they  moved 
through  rows  of  stands  heaped  high  with  very  green 
vegetables.  Everywhere  colour  and  grace  and  gracious 
gesture,  everywhere  subdued  and  discreet  movement, 
and  the  fresh  aroma  of  starched  linen. 

A  graceful  girl  in  blue,  with  a  lace  collarette  and 
cambric  head-dress,  gave  me  a  look.  I  wondered  why 
even  the  cab-horse  did  not  stop.  I  tried  to,  but  the 
cabman  turned  abruptly  to  the  left  under  the  pedestal 
of  the  prancing  bronze  battle-horse,  incidentally  en 
cumbered  with  some  forgotten  Grand  Duke  of  Lux 
embourg,  and  we  entered  a  boulevard,  skirting  the 
ramparts.  This  boulevard  was  another  surprise ;  it 
looked  like  a  bit  of  Paris,  handsome,  modern,  elegant, 
and  spotless.  There  were  houses  only  on  one  side ; 
on  the  other,  terraces,  from  below  which  sheer  cliffs 
fell  away.  Nurse-maids  rolled  baby-carriages  up  and 
down  the  sidewalks  ;  a  street-sweeper,  eyes  closed,  ap 
parently  slumbering  upright,  played  a  hose  over  the 
asphalt.  Even  the  English  sparrows  seemed  sub 
dued  and  decorous  ;  there  was  no  loud,  vulgar  chirp 
ing,  no  impudent  chatter,  no  dusty  squabbles  ;  each 
bird  minded  his  own  business,  and  followed  the  fat 

57 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

ash-coloured  pigeons  with  admiring  eyes,  as  those 
over-fed  birds  waddled  round  and  round  in  the  eter 
nal  ornithological  quest  for  nourishment. 

I  knew  this  was  the  Boulevard  du  Viaduc — I  had  seen 
the  name  neatly  printed  in  white  on  the  corner  house. 

In  a  few  moments  the  cab  stopped  in  front  of  an  im 
maculate  house,  bearing  the  number  7,  and  over  the 
door  I  saw  a  newly  gilded  eagle  and  shield,  and  a 
newly  painted  flag-pole,  decorated  with  two  brand- 
new  ropes.  I  descended,  gave  the  cabman  a  generous 
tip,  told  him  to  behave  himself  always  and  fear  God, 
and  went  towards  the  door,  at  which  already  a  flunky 
stood. 

A  moment  later  a  big,  laughing,  reckless-eyed  youth 
came  into  the  hallway,  saying:  "  Hello,  Hardy,  old 
sport !  Glad  to  see  you,  old  gilt-and-buttons  !  Fve 
put  a  cocktail  and  the  cellar  keys  on  your  bureau. 
Pull  the  blue  cord  in  the  corner  when  you're  ready, 
and  please  don't  wink  at  the  maid." 

It  was  Victor  Osborne,  First  Secretary  to  his  Excel 
lency  the  American  Envoy,  Ambassador  Extraordinary 
and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  the  Grand  Duchy  of 
Luxembourg. 

"  Don't  be  funny,"  I  said.    "Where's  the  Minister  ?" 

"  Gone  to  The  Hague  with  the  whole  outfit — ex 
cept  me.  There's  a  row  on  with  William  the  Sudden. 
Wash  your  face  and  come  down -stairs,  and  I'll  tell 
you  about  it." 

It  only  needs  a  pair  of  Yankees  in  a  country  to 
knock  the  romance  out  of  it. 

If  it  is  true  that  any  Americans  have  settled  in 
heaven,  it  may  be  spoiled  within  the  next  few  years — 
like  Japan. 

58 


CHAPTER  VIII 
BEEAKFAST   AND   BANTEE 

Showing  how  a  bet  may  be  won  and  yet  leave  the  winner  out  of 
pocket;  also  why  maidens  sliould  not  put  their  trust  in  princes, 
neither  in  the  sons  of  men 

WE  breakfasted  about  eleven,  Osborne  and  I,  in  the 
sunny  morning-room  adjoining  the  conservatory. 

He  had  changed  very  little  since  we  left  West  Point, 
he  to  resign  and  play  with  politics,  I  to  enter  the  cav 
alry  and  learn  to  covet  dead  men's  shoes. 

"  The  service  is  too  slow,"  he  said,  chipping  an  egg 
and  glancing  wistfully  at  me  ;  "I  couldn't  have  stood 
the  stagnation.  Dead  men's  shoes  are  not  so  repulsive 
in  politics  ;  their  owners  are  only  dead  politically,  you 
know." 

Through  the  open  window  I  heard  the  wind  in  the 
trees  ;  I  saw  the  swallows  sheering  the  cliff  across  the 
street ;  I  heard  the  melody  of  the  Alzette  tinkling 
through  the  ravine.  The  bizarre  beauty  of  everything 
preoccupied  me. 

"Yes,  everything  is  pretty  in  this  futile  country," 
said  Osborne.  "To  prevent  his  Excellency's  mind 
from  wandering  I  tried  to  engage  homely  house-maids. 
There  were  none  in  Luxembourg." 

"Victor,"  said  I,  "why  on  earth  did  they  send 
that  man  out  here  ?" 

"  Oh,  his  Excellency  ?  He  harmonizes  with  the 
59 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

landscape/'  said  Osborne.  "  You  ought  to  see  him 
when  his  whiskers  are  combed  out  like  the  white  frill 
on  a  pouter-pigeon." 

We  lighted  cigars  and  moved  our  chairs  to  the  bal 
cony.  An  exceedingly  trim  maid,  with  obtrusively 
satisfactory  ankles,  removed  the  breakfast  dishes. 
Somehow  or  other  the  atmosphere  of  the  whole  lega 
tion  struck  me  as  frivolous ;  the  rococo  mirrors,  the 
slim  twisted  candle-sticks,  the  gilded  chairs  and  sofas, 
all  seemed  part  and  parcel  of  the  dainty  absurdity  of 
the  city.  And  those  pink  and  white  maids  with  their 
china-blue  eyes  and  lace  caps — they  belonged  in  stage 
boudoirs ;  they  should  be  dancing  delicate  dances  in 
the  lightest  of  light  musical  comedies,  bathed  in  the 
prismatic  reflections  of  crystal  chandeliers. 

"Oh,  you'll  get  used  to  it,"  observed  Osborne; 
"  everything's  pretty  here,  everything  is  irresponsible 
and  artistically  reasonable.  Here  we  all 

"  'Take  the  cash  and  let  the  credit  go  ; 

Nor  heed  the  rumble  of  a  distant  drum.'" 

"Tell  me,  seriously,"  I  said,  "just  how  the  land 
lies  in  this  Christmas-pantomime  country." 

"  You  don't  want  to  be  serious  so  soon  after  break 
fast  ?"  he  protested. 

"  Yes,  I  do.  The  very  air  here  makes  me  feel  fool 
ish,  like  sweet  champagne.  If  we  don't  talk  sense 
I'll  become  as  trivial  as  the  rest  of  you." 

"  Well,"  he  said,  "  I  will  lecture  on  modern  history, 
then.  This  is  all  I  know  :  William  the  Sudden  has 
fished  out  of  his  archives  a  lot  of  old  wills  and  grants 
and  treaties,  which  he  is  pasting  together  to  suit  his 
ends.  It  seems  that  in  1883,  in  Holland,  fear  of  ab- 

60 


BREAKFAST    AND    BANTER 

sorption  by  Germany  was  excited  by  the  fact  that,  in 
case  of  the  death  of  the  feeble  Prince  of  Orange,  the 
only  male  heir  was  Prince  Albert,  of  Prussia.  Prince 
Albert  was  a  claimant  through  maternal  descent  from 
King  William  I.,  of  Holland.  Then  came  a  grand 
mix-up ;  Prince  Albert,  of  Prussia,  cited  the  case 
of  William  I.,  of  Prussia,  who  was  a  grandson  of  the 
old  Stadtholder  Frederick  Henry.  But  that  claim,  it 
seems,  was  settled  way  back  in  1732.  At  any  rate, 
the  Kaiser  is  perfectly  possessed  to  get  hold  of  Luxem 
bourg,  if  not  of  Holland.  He  wants  to  compromise, 
but  he  has  a  clear-headed  little  lady,  with  a  mind  of 
her  own,  to  deal  with — I  mean  Wilhelrnina,  of  Holland." 

"She  mobilised  the  reserve/'  I  said. 

"You  bet  she  did  !"  cried  Osborne,  enthusiastically. 
"  Here's  a  diplomatic  secret ;  what  do  you  think  his 
Sudden  Majesty  of  Germany  tried  to  do  ?  He  mag 
nanimously  offered  her  a  husband  to  be  selected  and 
specially  blessed  by  himself." 

"No!"  I  said,  disgusted.  "What  did  the  little 
Queen  of  Holland  say  ?" 

"She  said  something  very  saucy — she  said  it  in 
rhyme,  too ;  his  Excellency  saw  it.  Translated  it  read : 
"  '  Where  the  old  cat  crawls  through,  the  kittens  may 
follow ;  where  the  kittens  crawl  through,  the  old  cat 
may  climb  over  the  fence/  ': 

"Which  meant,"  I  saicl,  laughing,  "that  a  Prus 
sian  princeling  once  in  Holland,  the  old  cat  Kaiser 
might  walk  over  the  frontier." 

"  Exactly,  and  pocket  Luxembourg.  Oh,  she's  a 
bonnie  little  queen,  Wilhelmina,  and  as  sweet  and 
pretty  as  she  is  clever.  And  to  think  of  a  coarse- 
fibred  Prussian — " 

61 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"  That  reminds  me,"  I  interrupted.  "  Prince  Edric, 
of  Prussia,  is  in  Luxembourg." 

' f  In  prison,"  added  Osborne,  with  an  air  that  said 
plainly,  "Don't  try  to  teach  your  grandmother  to  suck 
eggs." 

"  Who  told  you  so  ?"  I  asked. 

"  The  police,  of  course,"  yawned  my  too  clever 
comrade. 

"Well,"  I  said,  pitilessly,  "you  have  been  gulled  ; 
they  got  the  wrong  man,  and  Prince  Edric  has  gone 
a-wooing  his  ladye  fayre.  I  see,  Victor,  that  you 
need  mature  advice  in  your  first  diplomatic  essay." 

He  took  it  fairly  well ;  it  was  something  of  a  dig, 
though,  and  perhaps  I  laughed  a  little  louder  than 
necessary. 

"How  did  you  find  that  out  ?"  he  asked,  wincing. 

"  The  police,  of  course,"  I  yawned. 

It  was  too  bad  to  rub  it  in  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
I  had  no  intention  of  revealing  to  him  the  fact  of  my 
incarceration;  I  should  never  have  heard  the  last 
of  it. 

"I'm  going  to  wire  his  Excellency,"  said  Victor. 
"  He  might  as  well  know  that  Edric  is  in  Luxem 
bourg.  Everybody  thinks  it's  for  a  peasant  girl,  but 
it  may  be  some  Prussian  plot  that  the  Sudden  One  is 
hatching." 

"Wire  ahead,"  I  said;  "only  I  happen  to  know 
that  the  Kaiser  is  furious,  and  has  sent  two  spies  or 
sheriffs,  or  some  species  of  Teuton  reptile,  after 
Edric." 

"  Dear  me  !"  exclaimed  Osborne,  pretending  to  be 
overcome  at  my  precocity;  "and  what  may  their 
names  be,  my  omniscient  young  friend  ?" 

62 


BREAKFAST    AND    BANTER 

"  Wiepert  and  Vossburg,"  I  replied,  concealing  my 
triumph  with  a  half-yawn. 

Osborne  looked  np  quickly. 

"Confound  it,  Gilbert,"  he  said;  "you  have  been 
in  Luxembourg  an  hour  or  so,  and  you  know  more 
already  than  I  do.  Who  told  you  about  Wiepert  and 
old  Vossburg  ?" 

"  They  are  friends  of  mine,"  I  said,  calmly.  "If  I 
learn  anything  of  interest  to  the  government  I'll  tell 
you,  my  son." 

Osborne,  a  trifle  angry,  but  laughing,  rose  and 
stepped  out  on  the  balcony.  I  followed,  still  smoking. 

"Those  two  spies  have  been  hanging  around  town 
ever  since  I  came  here,"  he  said.  "  They  watch  our 
legation  ;  they  haunt  the  barracks,  the  council-cham 
ber,  the  palace.  Why  ?  Lord  knows  ;  I  can't  make 
out  what  they  want  unless  it's  that  '  general  informa 
tion  '  so  dear  to  the  German  government." 

"At  present,"  I  said,  "they're  after  Prince  Edric 
with  a  warrant  of  arrest  in  the  name  of  the  Kaiser." 

There  was  a  silence.  I  tossed  my  cigar  over  the 
railing,  and  watched  it  fall  and  lie  smoking  among 
the  scarlet  geraniums  in  the  court-yard. 

"  Do  you  suppose  Edric  means  to  renounce  his 
titles  and  pretences  and  marry  that  peasant  girl  ?" 
asked  Osborne. 

"  I  believe  he  is  capable  of  it,"  I  said ;  "  I  believe 
the  Kaiser  thinks  him  capable  of  it." 

"Why  do  you  think  that  ?" 

"  Because  I  myself  believe  Prince  Edric  would  stop 
at  nothing." 

"What  do  you  know  of  Prince  Edric?"  asked 
Osborne,  much  amused. 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"More  than  you  think  I  do,"  I  replied,  "and  more 
than  I'm  going  to  tell  you." 

"  Perhaps  you  know  him  ?" 

"Perhaps  I  do." 

"  Come,  Gilbert,"  he  said,  "  don't  be  idiotic.  I'm 
going  to  write  to  his  Excellency  now.  You  might 
take  a  stroll  down  by  the  barracks  and  inspect  the 
Luxembourg  army ;  it's  all  there,  the  whole  battalion. 
Go  and  begin  your  prowling.  A  legation  is  only  a 
diplomatic  name  for  a  nest  of  spies,  you  know." 

He  sauntered  back  into  the  room,  a  little  piqued  I 
fancy,  puzzling  his  brains  over  my  apparent  sources  of 
knowledge. 

"  By-the-way,  Victor,"  I  called  to  him  as  he  left  the 
balcony, -"when  am  I  to  be  presented  to  the  Grand 
Duke  and  Duchess  ?" 

"When  they  come  back  to  town,"  he  replied. 

"But  the  Duchess  is  here  now,"  I  said,  unable  to 
forego  the  opportunity. 

"  No,  she  isn't,"  he  answered. 

I  went  into  the  room  where  he  stood  by  the  hall- 
door. 

"  I'll  bet  you  she's  in  town,"  I  said. 

"  Take  you,"  he  replied,  promptly. 

"  Box  of  cigars  ?" 

"Done.    Prove  it." 

Now  I  had  forgotten  that  I  could  not  honourably 
prove  it.  I  thought  a  moment,  then  said  : 

"I  saw  her,  Victor." 

"  Mistake,"  he  said,  briefly. 

"  Then  prove  it  yourself,"  I  retorted. 

He  picked  up  the  morning  paper,  L'lndependance 
Luxembourgeoise,  and  searched  a  moment. 

64 


BREAKFAST    AND    BANTER 

"Here/'  he  said.     "'Court  news. — His  Highness 
the  Grand   Duke  Athel,  Her  Highness  the   Grand 
Duchess  Eulalie,  Mademoiselle  Bettina  d'Yssel,  and 
the  Countess  of  Wilverwiltz  have  been  for  three  days 
at  the  Chateau  "Wilverwiltz  for  the  golf  tournament/ ''' 
"  What  paper  is  that  ?"  I  demanded. 
"  This  morning's  paper." 

"It's  an  asinine  sheet/'  I  said  ;  "and  you  can  have 
your  cigars  when  you  want  them." 

"  I  thought  you'd  drown  in  your  sea  of  knowledge," 
he  observed.  And  he  went  away,  singing  under  his 
breath : 

"  A  man's  an  ass  as  goes  to  sea, 

At  him  I  do  deride  ; 
But  woman  is  a  tender  flower, 
And  delicate  inside." 

I  picked  up  hat,  gloves,  and  stick,  and  departed, 
vexed  that  I  had  lost  not  only  my  bet  but  also  my  pres 
tige  with  Osborne  as  a  possessor  of  sources  of  infor 
mation. 

As  I  strolled  across  the  street  I  thought  of  my  ad 
venture  of  the  night  before. 

"Nevertheless,"  I  muttered,  "the  Duchess  was  in 
town  last  evening,  and  he  can  make  the  most  of  his 
cigars." 

Now  that  I  knew  the  court  was  away,  I  began  to 
feel  that  the  city  was  dull.  Of  course  at  first  I  found 
the  city  itself  interesting ;  I  strolled  through  it  from 
the  Plat  d'Altmtinster  to  the  Rue  Vauban,  from  the 
Avenue  Marie -Therese,  through  the  Boulevard  du 
Prince  and  Boulevard  du  Roi,  to  the  theatre.  I  in 
spected  the  beautiful  library,  the  Chamber  of  Depu 
ties,  Palais  de  Justice,  Cathedral,  and  the  churches 
E  65 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

of  Saint-Cunnegonde  and  Saint-Quirin.  Then  I  had 
enough  of  antiquities,  so  I  went  to  the  market-square 
where  the  fresh -faced  peasant  girls  thronged  the 
sidewalks,  and  looked  sideways  at  me  until  I  thought 
I  had  better  go  to  the  Cafe  Metzler  and  order  some 
thing  with  ice  in  it.  Yet  it  was  true  that  the  town 
lacked  gayety.  The  handsome  quarters  were  silent, 
deserted  save  by  a  nurse-maid  or  two  sitting  on  the 
benches  beside  beardless  soldiers.  Truly  a  city  of 
sixteen  thousand  inhabitants  needed  at  least  a  grand 
duke  and  a  court  to  make  it  endurable. 

Now  if  there  had  been  plenty  of  military  about  I 
should  not  have  found  it  dull ;  but  the  total  garrison 
consisted  of  the  entire  Luxembourg  army — a  battalion 
of  infantry  and  a  wandering  sprinkling  of  gendarmes. 
The  fortifications,  interesting  because  Vauban  con 
structed  some  of  them,  were  neither  modern  nor  of 
any  immediate  military  consequence.  Yet  it  was  easy 
to  understand  how  this  fortified  city  had  once  been 
the  strongest  fortress  in  the  world,  except  Gibraltar. 
For  although  by  the  treaty  of  London  in  1867  the 
fortifications  were  demolished,  so  great  a  part  of  them 
were  hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock  that,  even  now,  with 
a  little  industry  and  a  few  machine-guns,  the  city 
could  be  made  intensely  interesting  to  any  assaulting 
force.  With  money  and  time  the  city  could  be  even 
made  worthy,  as  a  citadel,  of  its  ancient  title,  the 
"Key  to  France."  And  it  is  true  to-day  that  any 
country  holding  Luxembourg,  reconstructed  as  a  for 
tress  of  the  first  class,  would  possess  the  only  logical 
base  from  which  France  could  be  successfully  invaded 
from  the  north. 

Antiquated  defences  and  small  armies  soon  satisfy 
66 


BREAKFAST    AND    BANTER 

the  curiosity  of  the  modern  soldier,  and,  apart  from 
the  projects  that  naturally  shaped  themselves  in  my 
mind  for  the  defence  of  a  defenceless  city,  I  found 
little  to  amuse  or  instruct  me  in  Luxembourg  mili 
tary  matters.  Besides,  I  was  a  cavalry  officer,  and  I 
observed  with  sufficient  tolerance  the  delving  of  engi 
neers,  the  calculations  of  artillerists,  and  the  confabs 
of  owl-eyed  infantry  experts. 

While  I  stood  on  the  viaduct,  examining  the  battered 
relics  of  ancient  defence,  Osborne  joined  me,  swinging 
a  cane. 

"Anything  in  your  line?"  he  asked,  banteringly. 
"Given  the  length  of  a  ship  and  the  height  of  the 
main-mast,  find  the  age  of  the  captain's  cat — eh  ?" 

I  did  not  answer ;  I  was  inspecting  a  young  man 
who  had  just  crossed  the  bridge  and  who  now,  trav 
ersing  the  street,  entered  the  Rue  d'Eau  at  a  lively 
pace. 

Unless  I  was  blinder  than  the  white  bat  of  Drum- 
goole,  that  man  was  Stanerl  Von  Elbe — Prince  Edric, 
of  Prussia. 

"  Why  the  devil  don't  you  answer  me  when  I  speak 
to  you  ?"  inquired  Osborne. 

"Wait  till  you're  a  big  boy,"  I  replied,  and  left  him 
there,  mouth  open. 

The  man  ahead  of  me  was  certainly  Prince  Edric. 
He  walked  along  at  a  rapid  pace  with  that  erect  yet 
not  ungraceful  carriage  peculiar  to  many  Prussian 
officers. 

There  were  plenty  of  people  in  the  Rue  d'Eau,  so  I 
found  it  easy  to  follow  him  without  attracting  his  at 
tention.  As  he  walked  he  kept  glancing  up  at  the 
signs  on  the  shops  as  though  searching  for  some  num- 

67 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

ber  ;  I  kept  him  in  view  without  difficulty,  wondering 
why  he  dared  show  himself  so  openly  in  the  streets  of 
Luxembourg. 

Once  he  stopped  at  a  book-store  window,  apparently 
fascinated  by  some  photographs.  Presently  he  en 
tered  the  store ;  I  went  to  the  window  and,  while  pre 
tending  to  examine  the  display  of  photographs  for 
sale,  kept  one  eye  on  Prince  Edric.  I  noticed,  among 
the  photographs,  portraits  of  actresses,  emperors,  prize 
cattle,  and  demi-mondaines. 

Tucked  away  in  a  corner  Bismarck  stared  through 
a  thin  film  of  dust.  The  slight  cast  in  his  prominent 
eyes  always  fascinated  me,  like  the  outward  turn  one 
sees  in  the  eyes  of  well-bred  pug-dogs.  William  the 
Sudden  was  there  between  some  views  of  the  famous 
Luxembourg  cattle-show — stalled  bulls,  prize  hogs, 
and  two-headed  calves. 

But  the  important  pictures  in  the  window  were,  of 
course,  portraits  of  the  Grand  Duke  and  Duchess  and 
the  lovely  Queen  of  Holland.  Wilhelmina  was  every 
where  in  every  costume ;  the  Grand  Duchess,  radiant 
in  her  youthful  beauty,  appeared  in  court  costume,  in 
riding  habit,  in  waterproof  and  cape.  I  should  never 
have  recognised  her.  As  for  the  Grand  Duke,  he  was 
duplicated  and  re-duplicated  in  all  the  uniforms  im 
aginable.  He  was  apparently  more  times  a  colonel 
in  European  crack  regiments  than  there  were  men  in 
the  entire  Luxembourg  army. 

When  Prince  Edric  came  out  of  the  shop  I  turned 
my  back.  He  would  not  have  seen  me  anyway,  for  he 
continued  down  the  Rue  d'Eau,  still  searching  the 
signs  on  the  shops. 

It  took  me  only  a  moment  to  enter  the  book-store, 


BREAKFAST    AND    BANTER 

find  out  what  Prince  Edric  had  bought,  and  return  to 
follow  him. 

His  Highness  had  purchased  sixteen  photographs  of 
Queen  Wilhelmina,  of  Holland. 

"Oh,  peasant  maid  of  Luxembourg,"  I  thought, 
"  put  not  your  trust  in  princes— neither  in  the  sons 
of  men." 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE    KING 

Proving  tJiat  no  man  can  guess  in  cold  blood  what  he  might 
do  in  a  passion 


at  last  Prince  Edric  found  the  number  he 
was  searching  for,  I  entered  the  shop  at  his  heels,  and 
as  he  took  his  place  in  a  line  of  people  before  a  rail 
ing  I  stood  behind  him,  indifferent  now  as  to  dis 
covery,  determined,  as  soon  as  he  had  finished  his 
business,  to  have  a  chat  with  him  on  matters  inter 
esting  to  us  both. 

The  place  was  an  information  bureau  for  tourists 
and  travellers,  a  ticket-office  for  railroads,  and  a  gen 
eral  rendezvous  where  commercial  men  and  other  voy 
agers  might  find  foreign  newspapers,  time-tables,  and 
directories.  There  were  also  conveniences  for  chang 
ing  foreign  money  into  Luxembourg  coinage,  commis 
sion  strictly  according  to  the  quoted  rate  of  exchange. 

The  waiting  line  of  men  moved  up  little  by  little 
until  at  length  Prince  Edric  stood  at  the  guichet,  and 
the  agent  looked  questioningly  down  at  him  from 
behind  the  railing. 

"  I  should  like  a  ticket,  first-class,  to  Wilverwiltz," 
said  Prince  Edric,  politely  returning  the  agent's  me 
chanical  inclination. 

The  agent  opened  a  drawer,  found  the  ticket, 
stamped  it,  tore  off  half,  stamped  that,  wrote  on  both 

70 


THE    RING 

halves,  punched  them,  and  handed  one  to  Prince  Ed- 
ric.     Wilverwiltz  was  only  ten  miles  away. 

''1  suppose  the  diligence  still  runs  between  Wilver 
wiltz  and  Saint- Yssel  ?"  said  Prince  Edric,  laying  a 
silver  piece  on  the  desk. 

"  No,  monsieur.    The  Saint- Yssel  Chasse  is  closed." 

"  But  the  Forester's  lodge  is  still  there,  of  course  ?" 
inquired  Prince  Edric,  nervously. 

"His  Highness,  the  Grand  Duke,  has  closed  it  per 
manently/'  replied  the  agent. 

The  Prince  seemed  so  taken  aback  that  the  agent 
added :  "  Van  Tassel,  the  head  forester,  died  last 
winter." 

"  But  his  niece  ?"  blurted  out  the  Prince,  impa 
tiently. 

"Intelligence  concerning  the  head  forester's  niece 
is  not  included  in  the  information  distributed  by  this 
bureau,"  replied  the  agent,  coldly. 

"  But  I  wish  to  find  the  niece  of  the  Duke's  head 
forester,"  said  the  Prince,  in  a  firm  voice. 

"  Apply  to  the  police,  monsieur.  And  kindly  step 
aside  ;  there  are  others  waiting." 

I  had  to  laugh  ;  it  was  retribution  with  a  vengeance. 

The  Prince  slowly  turned  around  ;  there  was  light 
ning  in  his  eyes,  though  his  visage  expressed  no  emo 
tion.  But  when  he  saw  it  was  I  who  stood  there,  he 
instinctively  stepped  back,  controlling  his  angry  sur 
prise  with  an  effort  that  stiffened  the  tense  skin  over 
his  cheek-bones  and  set  his  jaws  tight  as  a  steel  trap. 

6 '  Monsieur,"  I  said,  affably,  "  let  us  resume  diplo 
matic  relations.  I  bear  no  malice." 

He  evidently  expected  me  to  denounce  him ;  he 
was  a  trifle  pale. 

71 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"  I  mean  it,"  I  said  ;  ' '  it  is  I  who  am  your  debtor." 

Which  was  true ;  except  for  him  I  should  never 
have  kissed  the  Grand  Duchess.  Even  now  I  was 
wearing  her  ring  on  my  little  finger,  under  my  glove. 
Bad  form,  but  very  comforting. 

"  I  do  not  particularly  desire  your  company/'  he 
said,  in  a  low  voice ;  "  but  I  appear  to  be  at  your 
mercy." 

"Then  go  to  the  deuce!"  I  said,  hotly.  "Do  you 
take  me  for  a  blackmailer  ?"  And  I  walked  out  of 
the  shop,  twirling  my  stick  angrily. 

The  next  moment  he  had  joined  me,  walking  at  my 
side,  his  hand  on  my  elbow. 

"  Don't  be  offended,"  he  said,  with  candid  earnest 
ness  ;  f f  I  have  treated  you  abominably,  and  I  beg 
your  pardon.  You  are  quite  right  in  demanding  an 
interview  and  I  accord  it  with  pleasure — believe  me — 
with  greatest  pleasure." 

"You  mean  a  duel  ?"  I  asked,  my  wrath  subsiding. 
"  There's  time  enough  for  that ;  it  is  I  who  owe  you 
reparation,  Monsieur  Von  Elbe." 

He  raised  his  eyebrows. 

"  Really  ?" 

"I'm  afraid  so,"  I  said.  "However,  let  us  find 
some  nook  for  a  quiet  chat  where  we  can  curse  each 
other  comfortably." 

"  A  cafe  ?"  he  asked,  smiling. 

( '  You  had  better  keep  clear  of  cafes  and  thorough 
fares,  too,  Monsieur  Von  Elbe,"  I  said,  a  little  mali 
ciously. 

He  glanced  up,  but  said  nothing  until  I  hailed  a 
cab. 

"  Where  are  we  going  ?"  he  demanded. 
72 


THE    RING 

"To  my  apartments,  if  yon  will  do  me  the  honour." 

There  was  enongh  irony  in  my  voice,  enough  dan 
ger  in  the  suggestion  to  touch  his  amour-propre.  As 
a  prudent  man,  he  would  have  refused ;  as  an  officer, 
he  would  not. 

"  With  pleasure,"  he  said,  carelessly. 

I  motioned  towards  the  cab,  which  had  stopped  close 
to  the  curb. 

"I  beg  you  to  enter  first,"  he  said,  politely. 

"  Another  question  of  precedence  ?" 

He  winced  and  bit  his  lip ;  I  sprang  into  the  cab, 
he  followed,  and  I  bade  the  cabman  drive  to  the 
United  States  Legation. 

When  Prince  Edric  heard  the  direction  he  turned 
and  looked  sharply  at  me,  but  I  pretended  not  to 
notice  it. 

"Frankly,"  he  said,  "why  are  you  going  to  the 
American  Legation  ?" 

"  Have  you  any  objections  ?"  I  replied,  in  apparent 
surprise. 

"  Do  you  think  a  Prussian  officer  would  be  welcome 
in  a  Yankee  Legation  ?"  he  asked,  bluntly. 

"  You  know  the  Dutch  proverb,"  I  said,  " '  One 
devil  does  not  make  a  hell.7" 

I  said  it  so  cheerfully  that  the  anger  my  words 
aroused  in  him  was  paralysed  by  my  soft  tones.  There 
is  no  severity  like  gentleness. 

"  Come,"  said  I,  "are  there  any  reasons  we  should 
not  be  friends  ?" 

"I  think  there  are,"  he  said ;  "  you  are  one  of  them." 

"  Nonsense,"  I  laughed  ;  "  you  and  I  are  sure  to 
like  each  other  immensely.  You  know  the  proverb : 
'  He  makes  no  friends  who  never  made  an  enemy.'" 

73 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"  God  keep  me  from  my  friends,  and  I'll  keep  myself 
from  my  enemies/'  he  quoted,  striving  to  look  cynical. 

A  few  moments  later  we  stopped  before  the  Lega 
tion.  He  eyed  the  coat-of-arms,  but  followed  me  with 
out  further  questions  into  the  Legation  and  up-stairs, 
where  I  ushered  him  through  a  suite  of  handsome 
empty  rooms  into  my  own  apartment. 

"You  shall  try/'  said  I,  "a  Niagara  cocktail  with 
an  olive  in  it." 

He  nodded  doubtfully.  A  servant  brought  what  I 
needed,  including  ice  and  a  thin  flask  full  of  almond- 
shaped  olives  from  Aries. 

While  I  made  the  cocktails,  Prince  Edric  took  a 
rapid  survey.  His  eyes  noted  the  cavalry  sabres 
crossed  over  the  mantel,  the  spurs,  foils,  boxing- 
gloves.  I  saw  he  was  trying  to  make  up  his  mind 
concerning  my  profession,  and  his  eyes  returned  per 
sistently,  almost  wistfully,  to  the  sabres. 

"If  it  will  relieve  you,"  I  said,  "to  know  that  you 
are  going  to  drink  with  an  officer  of  the  United  States 
Army,  don't  trouble  yourself  further." 

He  flushed  scarlet. 

"Why  didn't  you  tell  me  that  in  the  train  ?"  he 
asked. 

"  Because,"  said  I,  "  my  nationality  alone  should  be 
sufficient  to  compel  respect." 

"A  civilian  and  an  officer  are  two  different  things," 
he  retorted,  hotly.  "  In  Berlin  the  difference  is  un 
derstood." 

My  impatience  was  getting  the  better  of  me. 
"  Come/'  I  said,  briefly,  "  I've  been  more  than  pa 
tient  with  you,  and  now  I'm  going  to  be  frank.     He 
that  handles  a  nettle  gently  is  soonest  stung." 

74 


THE    RING 

I  raised  my  glass  and  stood  up. 

"  Nevertheless/'  I  continued,  "  I  don't  propose  to 
let  irritation  sour  my  cocktail.  I  have  the  honour  ! — 
Herr  Von  Elbe—" 

He  jumped  up  at  once  and  made  me  a  stiff  bow, 
repeating:  "  Monsieur,  to  you ;  the  honour  is  mine — " 

The  cocktails  disappeared  ;  we  made  each  other 
two  more  bows,  then  sat  down,  prepared  for  trouble. 

"Now,"  I  began,  "when  you  amused  yourself  by 
playing  highwayman  last  evening,  you  had  no  idea 
that  you  were  also  playing  with  the  buzz-saw  of  des 
tiny,  did  you  ?" 

"Are  you  the  buzz-saw  of  destiny  ?"  he  asked. 

"I  am.     You've  hurt  yourself,  too." 

"I  don't  notice  it,"  he  said,  sarcastically. 

(f  It  hasn't  begun  to  hurt  yet,"  I  said,  finishing  the 
construction  of  two  more  cocktails.  I  handed  him 
his  and  set  mine  on  the  table  beside  me. 

"You  deserve,"  I  continued,  "what  you  received. 
You  bully  a  stranger  with  a  revolver  and  help  your 
self  to  his  passport." 

"  Here's  your  passport,"  he  said,  exasperated ;  "ask 
whatever  reparation  you  desire.  I'm  only  too  thank 
ful  that  it's  an  officer  I  shall  have  the  honour  to 
encounter." 

"  What  are  we  going  to  fight  for  ?"  I  demanded. 
"  I  don't  wish  to  squabble  because  a  man  in  love  has 
acted  rashly." 

"A  man  in  love  !"  he  repeated,  with  narrowing  eyes. 

"Have  you  any  other  excuse  for  taking  my  pass 
port  as  you  did  ?" 

"  I  needed  it,"  he  said,  sullenly. 

"Indeed  you  did,  Prince  Edric,  and  you  took  it 
75 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

like  a  road -agent.  Confound  it!  if  yon  had  given 
me  half  a  hint  Fd  have  stood  by  you  at  any  incon 
venience  to  myself." 

That  I  had  called  him  by  his  own  name  and  title 
staggered  him  ;  that  I  could  show  him  sympathy  and 
generosity  under  the  circumstances  hit  him  harder 
yet. 

"  It  is  easy  to  see  you  are  an  officer  and  an  Amer 
ican,"  he  said.  "  Your  forbearance  puts  me  to  con 
fusion." 

"  Wait,"  I  replied,  ominously.  "  I  was  arrested 
and  imprisoned  because  I  was  taken  for  you.  Your 
Emperor's  two  spies,  Vossburg  and  Wiepert,  came 
from  the  frontier  to  conduct  me  to  Berlin." 

"What  can  I  say  !"  he  cried,  deeply  distressed.  "I 
will  do  anything  to  make  amends — indeed  I  will !" 

"Very  well,"  I  said,  "listen.  You  know,  of  course, 
what  the  newspapers  say  about  you  ?" 

"Yes,"  he  admitted,  setting  his  teeth  and  shooting 
a  distrustful  glance  at  me. 

"  Is  it  true  ?" 

He  turned  rigid  to  the  tips  of  his  ears. 

"  Is  that  a  question  ?"  he  asked. 

"Yes.  I  beg  your  pardon  for  asking  it,  but,  like 
your  observation  concerning  my  passport,  I  must 
know." 

He  glared  at  me  for  a  moment,  then  stood  up. 

"Answer  me,"  I  said,  coolly.  "If  it  is  true  that 
you  are  in  love  with  a  beautiful  Luxembourgeoise, 
then  what  happened  last  night  is  abominable  !" 

"  And  what  happened  last  night  ?"  he  asked,  with 
tightly  compressed  lips. 

"  I  told  a  woman  I  loved  her." 
76 


THE    RING 

' '  What  has  that  to  do  with  me  ?"  he  retained,  in 
astonishment. 

"  Why,  this — she  took  me  for  yon  !" 

He  sat  down  heavily. 

I  went  over  the  whole  episode,  not  sparing  myself 
in  the  least.  To  make  such  a  confession  to  any  man 
under  any  other  circumstances  would  have  been 
dastardly  ;  to  do  so  now  was  the  only  possible  course. 
It  was  necessary  for  the  honour  and  happiness  of  both 
Prince  Edric  and  the  Duchess  Eulalie  that  the  Prince 
should  know  what  had  been  done  in  his  name. 

Prince  Edric  listened  until  I  had  finished  ;  then  he 
quietly  demanded  the  name  of  the  woman. 

' '  It  is  the  first  time  I  ever  disclosed  the  name  of  any 
woman,"  I  said,  deeply  humiliated;  "the  lady  was 
the  Grand  Duchess  of  Luxembourg." 

The  utter  blankness  of  his  face  startled  me.  For  a 
full  minute  we  faced  each  other  in  perfect  silence. 

"  You  kissed  the  Duchess  ?"  he  repeated,  passing 
one  hand  across  his  eyes  as  though  to  conjure  up  such 
an  amazing  vision. 

"I  did — but  she  thought  it  was  you,"  I  said,  tartly. 

He  burst  into  a  most  ridiculous  fit  of  laughter ;  I 
watched  him,  astonished. 

"We  won't  quarrel  about  that !"  he  cried,  laughing 
all  the  while ;  "the  Duchess  is  a  harmless  little  feather- 
head,  infatuated  with  her  own  husband,  who  doesn't 
understand  her.  She's  horribly  sensitive  and  jealous 
of  him  and  he  of  her.  Why,  they've  only  been  married 
a  year  !  It  was  a  political  match,  but  she  fell  head 
over  heels  in  love  with  the  Duke,  and  dares  not  hint 
at  it,  fearing  a  repulse.  And  he's  so  stupid  he  can't 
understand." 

77 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"The  Duchess  didn't  seem  to  bother  about  it,"  I 
said,  sarcastically. 

"  Pooh  !  When  I  was  here  last  year  I  saw  she  was 
eating  her  heart  out.  She  was  silly  enough  to  try  to 
revenge  the  fancied  indifference  of  her  husband  by 
attempting  to  fall  in  love  with  me.  Don't  I  know 
the  difference  between  love  and  pique  ?" 

"Well,"  I  said,  vastly  relieved,  "what  are  you 
going  to  do  ?" 

' ( Do  ?  Go  to  see  her  and  tell  her  not  to  be  silly. 
Fll  take  the  responsibility  of  your  indiscretions — I'll 
shoulder  everything.  The  whole  affair  is  exquisitely 
humourous,  and  I  don't  wonder  you  tried  to  pay  me 
in  my  own  coin  !" 

"And  you  don't  think,"  I  suggested,  "that  she 
really  will  be  unhappy  ?" 

It  was  a  curious  sensation.  I  was  unwilling  to  be 
lieve  that  the  Duchess,  who  had  confessed  so  much  to 
me,  should  not  mean  it — even  though  she  took  me  for 
another  man. 

"  Every  word  she  uttered  was  meant  for  her  hus 
band —  only  she  didn't  know  it,"  he  laughed.  "I 
know  her." 

"  Then,"  said  I,  "  give  her  back  her  ring,  too." 
And  I  drew  the  curious  dull  gold  circlet  from  my 
finger  and  laid  it  in  Prince  Edric's  hand. 

What  followed  passed  very  quickly.  For  no  sooner 
had  he  set  eyes  on  the  ring  than  he  sprang  up  in  a 
most  extraordinary  fury,  accusing  me  of  so  many 
things  that  my  head  whirled.  He  denounced  me,  he 
swore  he'd  have  satisfaction  without  delay.  I,  utterly 
bewildered,  told  him  he  was  my  guest,  and  begged 
him  to  remember  where  he  was. 

78 


THE    RING 

"That  is  not  the  Duchess's  ring!"  he  cried;  "she 
never  wore  it  I" 

"  It  belonged  to  the  lady  I  made  love  to,"  I  said,  in 
a  passion  ;  "  if  you  know  who  she  is  you  can  get  your 
self  out  of  the  scrape  or  not— I  don't  care  a  pfennig!" 

I  thought  to  myself,  "Somehow  or  other  Fve  been 
kissing  his  confounded  peasant  girl,  that's  what  Fve 
done." 

"See  here,"  I  continued,  "I  can't  stand  this  any 
longer.  You  and  your  affairs  have  bothered  me  to 
death  ever  since  I  met  you.  If  Fve  been  spooning 
with  any  duchess  or  peasant  girl  of  yours,  it  serves 
you  right." 

Beside  himself  with  fury,  he  pointed  to  the  sabres 
on  the  wall. 

"  Wait,"  I  said,  hotly  ;  "do  you  think  I'm  going  to 
spoil  my  carpets  and  furniture  because  you  want  to 
carve  me  up  ?  No,  my  friend,  but  I'm  going  to  put 
on  those  boxing-gloves  and  give  you  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  that  you'll  remember." 

I  snatched  the  gloves  from  the  wall ;  he  looked  hor 
rified,  but  I  tossed  him  a  pair  for  himself  and  put 
mine  on. 

"  If  I  can  afford  to  do  it,  you  can,"  I  said,  savagely. 
"  I  don't  care  what  your  customs  are ;  if  you  have 
any  human  nature  left,  put  those  gloves  on." 

"We  are  in  Europe,"  he  said,  breathing  hard.  "If 
I  were  only  in  America — " 

"  You're  in  the  United  States  Legation  ;  politically 
you  are  on  American  soil !" 

He  took  fire  at  this  and  drew  on  the  gloves.  We 
were  both  dying  to  get  at  each  other  ;  the  nervous 
tension  had  lasted  too  long  for  young  blood. 

79 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

' ( I  take  it  yon  know  how  to  box,"  I  observed.  I 
had  understood  he  had  been  educated  in  England. 

"Yes,  I  box,"  he  replied,  briefly. 

As  we  faced  each  other,  the  ridiculous  aspect  of  the 
situation  did  not  strike  us.  We  were  no  longer  offi 
cers — no  longer  guest '  and  host ;  we  were  two  boys, 
possessed  with  the  desire  to  thrash  each  other,  for 
each  devoutly  believed  the  other  needed  it. 

Mechanically  I  extended  my  right  glove ;  he  touched 
it  with  his,  then  stepped  back. 

"  Guard  !"  I  said,  briskly,  and  went  at  him. 


CHAPTER  X 

A  MAN'S   FREEDOM 

A  chapter  containing  hints  of  a  complication  calculated  to  em 
barrass  an  empire  and  a  grand  duchess 

IN  the  course  of  a  dozen  seconds  I  punched  the 
Prince  on  the  nose.  In  the  scuffle  that  followed  I  hit 
him  again. 

Then  we  thrashed  around  the  room  for  a  while,  pom 
melling  each  other  in  public -school  style,  upsetting 
chairs,  until  he  slipped  on  a  rug  and  sat  down  abruptly 
on  the  sofa. 

Oh,  but  it  did  us  good  !  We  breathed  deeply  and 
scowled  at  each  other.  The  old  school-boy  spirit  flared 
up — the  delight  in  fighting,  the  intoxication  of  thwack 
ing  a  comrade  at  close  quarters,  the  ecstasy  of  being 
punched  in  the  nose  !  Blessed  privilege  of  youth  ! — 
thrice  envied  of  old  age  —  not  until  the  last  arm  falls 
paralysed,  and  the  last  clinched  fist  relaxes — not  until 
the  last  man  has  ended  his  last  bout  with  death,  shall 
the  wholesome  instinct  of  battle  fail  on  this  battle- 
scarred  planet. 

The  Prince  got  up  from  the  sofa ;  I  gave  ground, 
feinted,  then  hit  him  on  the  nose.  A  moment  later 
he  had  my  head  in  chancery,  and  I  assisted  at  a  noble 
display  of  fireworks.  That  ended  the  round ;  the 
Prince,  being  a  gentleman,  held  his  nose  over  the  fire 
place  to  spare  my  carpet ;  and  I  brought  cold  water 
F  81 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

and  a  sponge.  Before  his  nose  had  ceased  from 
troubling  we  were  laughing  together  over  the  whole 
matter,  and  chatting  on  the  very  best  of  terms. 

He  was  courteously  considerate  ;  he  held  the  wash 
basin  carefully  under  his  chin  and  sat  down  on  the 
sofa  while  I  made  two  more  cocktails. 

"What  fun  !"  he  kept  repeating,  in  a  voice  brim 
ming  with  laughter.  "We  must  do  that  again,  eh? 
I'll  show  you  something  too — a  double  lead-off  at 
head  and  body  that  I  meant  to  use  on  you  but  forgot." 

"  How's  your  nose  ?"  I  inquired,  sympathetically, 
coming  up  with  the  cocktails.  He  set  down  the  wash 
basin,  wiped  his  face  on  a  towel,  and  took  the  cocktail. 

"  See  here,"  he  said  ;  "  I  wish  we  might  be  friends." 

"So  do  I,"  I  replied,  "but,  somehow,  we  squabble 
frightfully." 

" I  believe,"  he  said,  "we  shall  always  squabble; 
friendship  is  a  record  of  mutual  misunderstanding. 
Nobody  takes  the  trouble  to  differ  with  an  enemy." 

He  looked  sentimentally  at  the  split  olive  in  the 
bottom  of  his  glass,  then  swallowed  it. 

"  Who  told  you  my  name  ?"  he  asked. 

I  accounted  for  my  knowledge  and  gave  him  a  brief 
outline  of  everything  that  had  occurred. 

"Well,"  he  said,  philosophically,  "I  am  to-day  as 
friendless  and  unimportant  as  any  prowling  street-cat 
in  Berlin."  He  held  up  his  glass  and  looked  through 
it  with  a  reflective  smile.  "My  titles  are  emptier 
than  that,"  he  said. 

"  Then  let  us  refill  it!"  I  rejoined,  gayly. 

"  I'd  only  drain  it  again ;  I'd  empty  it  to  the  dregs." 

Now  his  face  grew  older  with  the  shadow  of  care 
that  often  lay  heavy  under  his  pleasant  eyes. 


A    MAN'S    FREEDOM 

"I  wish  we  might  be  friends,"  he  repeated  ;  "do 
yon  ?" 

"We  are,  and  will  be,"  I  replied,  cheerfully. 

"Notwithstanding  your  inborn  dislike  of  Ger 
mans  ?" 

I  met  his  quizzical  smile  seriously. 

"  I  suppose,"  I  said,  "  that  you  are  self-exiled,  and 
that  you  have  voluntarily  forfeited  your  rank  and 
titles  for  reasons—" 

"  What  reasons  ?" 

"Everybody  knows." 

He  replied,  quite  simply:  "It  is  true;  I  have  re 
nounced  my  world  to  enter  another.  It  is,  after  all, 
my  own  affair." 

I  said  nothing. 

He  continued :  "  I  fancy  I  am  a  better  republican 
than  you  are ;  it  takes  a  prince  to  understand  the 
blessings  of  democracy." 

There  was  a  tinge  of  bitterness  in  his  tone  ;  he  went 
on  speaking,  his  head  turned  towards  the  window 
where  the  sunlight  splintered  into  a  million  irides 
cent  sparks  against  the  ground  glass  : 

"  I  am,  or  I  wish  to  be,  merely  a  private  gentleman, 
whose  affairs  concern  nobody  but  himself.  The  press 
will  let  me  alone  in  time ;  I  am  not  essential  to  its 
prosperity." 

"And  the  Emperor  ?"  I  asked. 

"  His  Majesty  will  also  find  me  uninteresting,"  he 
said,  colouring  faintly  ;  "I  shall  not  go  back." 

Presently  he  looked  up  at  me  :  "  It's  rather  undigni 
fied — a  runaway  prince — don't  you  think  ?" 

Before  I  could  reply  he  added :  "  Damn  the  dignity! 
I  have  had  twenty-five  years  of  it.  Fve  always  wished 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

to  do  something  in  the  world ;  I've  always  had  a 
mania  to  be  let  alone.  I'm  an  officer,  and  I  love  and 
respect  the  army,  bnt  Fve  always  longed  to  give  every 
moment  of  my  life  to  natural  history,  and  try  to  do 
something  original  in  either  ornithology  or  ento 
mology.  Why,  Hardy,  do  yon  know,  Fve  sat  in  the 
Brandenbourg  palace  and  chewed  my  sword-hilt,  and 
envied  that  Monaco  prince  who  spends  his  time,  when 
he  wishes  to,  in  fishing  up  coral  and  sea-weed  and 
polyps  for  his  collection  !" 

I  was  touched  by  the  young  fellow's  simplicity ;  I 
listened,  however,  without  comments,  because  I  saw 
he  wanted  to  talk,  and  I  thought  my  silence  was  suffi 
cient  sympathy  for  the  moment. 

"At  twenty-five,"  he  continued,  "  a  man  knows  his 
mind.  Don't  you  think  so  ?  Well,  then,  I  found 
that  liberty  was  worth  having  at  cost-price.  I  might 
have  hesitated  a  year  longer  had  it  not  been  for  his 
Majesty's  desire  to  have  me  marry.  Think  of  it,  you 
a  freeman — think  ! — imagine  your  President  choosing 
a  wife  for  you  ?" 

"Your  Emperor  is  more  than  the  political  head  of 
Germany  to  you,"  I  answered. 

"I  know.  But  I  cannot  stand  it!  I  need  to 
breathe  freely,  I  need  to  feel  limb-free ;  I  cannot  en 
dure  this  political  slavery — I  cannot  I" 

He  stretched  out  both  arms  and  took  a  deep  breath. 

"  I  was  to  have  been  betrothed  to  her  Majesty  of  Hol 
land  ;  we  had  never  even  seen  each  other.  Her  Majesty, 
being  as  high-spirited  as  she  is  independent,  snubbed 
us,  and  she  will  never  know  how  indebted  to  her  I  am. 
Now  the  project  has  been  resuscitated.  So  I  left 
Berlin." 

84 


A    MAN'S    FREEDOM 

"I  saw  you  buying  several  photographs  to-day,"  I 
said,  smiling. 

"I  did — her  Majesty  of  Holland's.  And  you  could 
never  imagine  why/' 

I  waited,  much  amused  by  his  eager  desire  for  sym 
pathy  and  confidence. 

"  It  was  because  they  resemble  the  face  of  some 
body  else  whom  I  hope  to  marry/'  he  said,  naively. 
"  Do  you  mind  my  talking  to  you  ?" 

Then,  half-wistfully,  half-eagerly,  he  told  me  of  his 
plans,  his  hopes,  his  determination  to  live  like  other 
men,  free  in  mind  and  body,  free  to  seek  the  road  to 
happiness,  wherever  it  lay,  and  pursue  it  as  God  had 
given  the  right. 

"  What  you  read  in  the  papers  was  misleading,"  he 
said.  "Last  year,  while  collecting  bird's  eggs  in  the 
Ardennes  near  Wilverwiltz,  I  stopped  to  make  an  in 
quiry  at  the  Duke's  lodge.  There  was  a  young  girl 
there  with  the  head  forester — his  niece,  he  said. 
Whoever  she  was  I  know  that  nowhere  in  the  world 
have  I  seen  another  like  her." 

He  jumped  up  and  walked  to  the  window,  pressing 
his  forehead  against  it,  watching  the  sparrows  gather 
in  the  trees,  for  evening  was  not  far  off. 

I  went  and  stood  beside  him.  Presently  he  con 
tinued,  as  though  speaking  to  himself  :  "  She  is  every 
thing  a  woman  should  be.  I  told  the  Emperor. 
After  what  he  said  I  could  stay  no  longer  in  Prussia." 

"  Is  she  here — in  Luxembourg  ?"  I  asked. 

"  Yes — no — I  don't  know.  The  forester  is  dead  ; 
I  don't  know  where  she  is.  You  see,  I  did  not  tell 
her  who  I  was  ;  I  said  nothing  when  I  went  away." 

He  turned  earnestly  to  me.  "  I  tell  you,  I  knew 
85 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

the  moment  I  saw  her  that  she  was  the  only  woman 
in  the  world.  And  the  thought  terrified  me — me,  a 
man  born  as  free  as  you  ! — because  I  knew  that  I 
never  could  speak  of  love  to  her — never  !  Listen, 
Hardy.  I  am  a  decent  fellow,  morally ;  I  have  never 
been  anything  else.  And  yet,  a  word  of  love  from 
me  to  her  would  have  been  misconstrued  as  insult." 

He  was  excited  now ;  he  began  to  pace  the  room, 
hands  tightly  clasped  behind  his  back. 

"Think  of  it,  Hardy !  Is  it  not  enough  to  make  a 
man  leave  the  damnable  slavery  of  caste  ?  Isn't  it 
enough  to  make  a  clean-minded  man  renounce  a  so 
ciety  which  would  tolerate  anything  but  marriage  ? 
And  I  tell  you  that  had  any  other  man  spoken  to  me 
about  this  young  girl  as  a  certain  man  spoke,  I  should 
have  killed  him !  I  am  no  fool.  If  it  had  pleased 
Heaven  to  make  me  love  a  woman  of  my  own  caste, 
I  should  have  clung  to  her,  too,  Emperor  or  no  Em 
peror.  But  it's  settled  now ;  I'm  as  free  and  self- 
respecting  as  any  free  man ;  I'll  follow  where  my  in 
clination  leads,  and  take  my  chances  like  a  man  among 
men." 

"If  Wiepert  and  Vossburg  trouble  you?"  I  sug 
gested. 

He  gave  me  an  ugly  look. 

"They'll  get  off  with  their  lives — unless  they  use 
force." 

Then  he  took  me  impulsively  by  the  arm. 

"  See  here,  Hardy ;  did  the  cloaked  figure  in  the 
red  hood  look  anything  like  the  Queen  of  Holland  ?" 

"  Not  in  the  least,"  I  said,  thankfully. 

He  was  so  frankly  relieved  that  I  laughed  and  shook 
his  out-stretched  hand  heartily. 


A    MAN'S    FREEDOM 

"  It  must  have  been  the  Duchess,"  he  said  ;  "  yet — 
yet — where  on  earth  did  she  get  this  ring  ?" 

I  leaned  over  and  examined  the  dull  gold  lying  in 
the  palm  of  his  hand. 

"  Where  did  you  see  that  ring  before  ?"  I  asked. 

"  I  ?  Why— I  left  it  there  in  the  forester's  lodge. 
And  I  think  the  forester's  niece  knew  that  it  was 
for  her." 

"You  left  it  there?" 

"  Yes.     I  even — er — gave  it  to  her." 

"  And  she  put  it  on  ?" 

"  Er— I  put  it  on." 

«  Oh  !     And  then  ?" 

"  Then  I  went  away." 

"  Saying  nothing  ?" 

"  Nothing." 

"  And  she?" 

"She  said  nothing." 

"And  the  forester?" 

"Oh,  he'd  gone  out  to  the  well." 

As  he  spoke  I,  glancing  out  of  the  window,  saw  old 
Vossburg  leering  up  at  me  from  the  other  side  of  the 
street. 

I  touched  the  Prince  on  the  elbow ;  he  glanced 
down  at  Vossburg,  started,  then  shrugged  his  shoul 
ders. 

"  Fll  have  to  face  the  music ;  it  won't  do  to  com 
plicate  things  with  your  government,"  he  said,  bit 
terly. 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  ?"  I  asked.  "  You  can't 
leave  now." 

"  If  I  don't,  your  Minister  won't  thank  you  for 
causing  a  new  diplomatic  incident  between  your  gov- 

87 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

ernment  and  ours.  You  can't  afford  to  have  me 
tracked  to  your  Legation." 

"  I  don't  see  why  I"  I  cried.  "  We  don't  arrest  or 
extradite  for  political  offences.  If  Herr  Von  Elbe  de 
sires  to  seek  the  protection  of  the  United  States,  he 
needn't  cross  the  Atlantic  for  that." 

The  Prince  started  to  reply,  but  a  violent  ringing 
at  the  door-bell  cut  him  short.  I  looked  into  the 
street ;  it  was  filled  with  gendarmes. 


CHAPTER   XI 
THE   GRAND   DUCHESS 

In  which  chapter  the  explanation  of  a  mystery  deepens  the  mystery, 
and  sets  a  young  man  dreaming  of  the  pleasures  of  prison 

ALREADY  a  considerable  crowd  of  citizens  were 
gathering  in  front  of  the  Legation,  curious  to  learn 
what  the  gendarmes  might  be  doing  there. 

I  walked  leisurely  to  the  open  door,  where  a  servant 
stood  parleying  with  Captain  Giroux.  When  the  lat 
ter  saw  me  he  looked  guilty,  but  old  Vossburg's  shrill 
chuckle  appeared  to  reassure  him.  He  returned  my 
sarcastic  salutation  and  started  to  make  a  speech, 
which  I  cut  short. 

"  Captain  Giroux,"  I  interposed,  "  do  you  want  to 
involve  your  country  in  all  sorts  of  dreadful  calami 
ties  r 

"What  calamities  ?"  he  began,  sulkily.  But  I  con 
tinued,  without  heeding  him  : 

"Just  because  you've  never  before  had  a  foreign 
legation  in  your  amazing  city,  you  expect  to  be  par 
doned  for  ignorance  concerning  the  inviolability  of 
diplomatic  sanctuaries,  don't  you  ?" 

"I  can't  help  it,"  he  blurted  out;  "the  German 
Emperor  orders  that — " 

"  Who  orders  ?"  I  asked. 

"  The  Emperor  of  Germany,"  he  repeated,  doubt 
fully. 

89 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

' '  The  Emperor  of  Germany  is  referred  to  the  United 
States  for  information  regarding  the  limit  of  his  con 
secrated  jurisdiction,"  I  said,  much  amused. 

Old  Vossburg  began  to  leer  and  mouth  and  twitter 
in  his  beard  ;  Giroux,  uncertain  and  greatly  distressed, 
surveyed  his  gendarmes  appealingly.  They  were  nice 
gendarmes  too — clothes  new,  neatly  buttoned,  and 
carefully  brushed. 

"  What  am  I  to  do  ?"  demanded  the  agitated  Pre- 
fet  of  Police;  "everybody  orders  me  to  do  something 
to  everybody  else  !" 

"Go  home  to  bed  with  a  prayerful  resolution  to 
mind  your  own  business  every  day  for  a  week.  Try 
it,"  said  I,  earnestly;  "you'll  get  used  to  it." 

While  I  was  speaking,  Vossburg  became  restless. 
He  squeaked  something,  and  tried  to  crowd  past  me 
into  the  hallway,  where,  over  my  shoulder,  I  saw  Prince 
Edric  standing. 

"  Get  out  I"  I  said  to  Vossburg,  and  gave  him  a 
nervous  push  that  sent  the  wretched  old  man  reeling. 
Prince  Edric  stepped  out  on  the  threshold,  but  I  un 
ceremoniously  pulled  him  back,  saying  :  "  Don't  leave 
the  Legation  !  I'll  answer  for  you." 

"  Arrest  that  man  !"  chattered  Vossburg,  pointing 
with  swollen,  purple  fingers  at  Prince  Edric. 

"  By  Heaven,  Giroux,"  I  said,  "if  your  men  cross  that 
mark  I'll  knock  them  over,  all  in  a  row — like  ten-pins  I" 

Already  the  crowd  had  increased  until  it  blocked 
the  street ;  the  gendarmes  drew  their  flimsy  gilt-hilted 
sabres  and  stood  in  three  neat  little  lines. 

"I'm  getting  you  into  more  scrapes," said  the  Prince, 
quietly  ;  "  let  me  go  out.  I  can  take  care  of  myself 
without  involving  you  any  further." 

90 


THE    GRAND    DUCHESS 

"  No,  you  can't,"  I  replied,  now  thoroughly  aroused. 
' '  I  invite  you  to  stay  here  as  my  guest  as  long  as  you 
please,  and  Fll  be  responsible  for  your  comfort." 

"  It's  not  wise,"  he  said,  smiling ;  "  it  is  very  gener 
ous  and  quixotic  and  American — but  it  is  not  diplo 
macy." 

He  was  correct.  I  looked  at  the  gendarmes,  at 
Giroux,  and  Vossburg.  They  had  not  yet  crossed  the 
threshold  of  the  Legation,  and  I  saw  Vossburg  did  not 
mean  to  give  me  any  diplomatic  pretext  for  com 
plaint.  What  he  was  aiming  at  was  to  force  me,  as  a 
United  States  official,  into  openly  harbouring  Prince 
Edric  of  Prussia,  a  political  refugee,  threatened  with 
arrest  by  the  Emperor's  own  emissaries. 

"Will  you  accept  the  position  of  private  secretary 
to  me  ?"  I  asked  the  Prince,  hastily. 

"  Thank  you,"  he  laughed  ;  "  that  is  a  most  delight 
ful  way  out  of  it — if  you  think  it  won't  embarrass 
you." 

I  turned  to  Captain  Giroux  and  ordered  him  off  the 
steps  with  a  decisive  gesture. 

"If  the  Emperor  of  Germany  wishes  to  investigate 
the  antecedents  of  my  private  secretary,  Herr  Stanerl 
Von  Elbe,  let  him  secure  permission  from  the  United 
States,"  I  said.  "  In  the  mean  time,  don't  talk  about 
princes  or  refugees,  of  whom  I  have  no  official  knowl 
edge." 

Suddenly  old  Vossbnrg,  whom  I  had  not  seen  ap 
proaching,  sprang  at  the  Prince  and  attempted  to 
drag  him  out  into  the  street.  I  struggled  to  free  him. 
The  next  moment  a  miniature  riot  began,  a  ridicu 
lously  amiable  riot — just  such  a  riot  as  one  might  ex 
pect  in  such  a  city.  I  shoved  away  some  gendarmes 

91 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

who  had  hold  of  me ;  they  said  :  "  Pardon,  monsieur/' 
and  let  go  politely.  A  Punch-and-Judy  combat  is 
much  more  serious  than  a  Luxembourg  revolution. 
Yet  there  was  one  sinister  feature  about  it — old  Voss- 
burg,  running  round  and  round  the  ring  of  swaying 
figures,  squealing  with  eagerness,  his  distended,  purple, 
swollen  fingers  scratching  the  air.  Once  he  caught 
the  Prince  by  the  arm,  but  Edric  hurled  him  off  with 
a  shudder. 

"Good  Heavens,"  I  said  to  him,  half  laughing,  half 
in  rage  ;  "this  is  too  absurd — it  mortifies  me  !  Can't 
somebody  take  these  doll-creatures  away  ?" 

Side  by  side  the  Prince  and  I  overturned  a  crowd  of 
clinging  gendarmes,  who  immediately  got  up  again, 
very  dusty,  but  scarcely  even  looking  reproachful.  It 
was  disconcerting ;  the  whole  thing  seemed  all  a 
sham,  a  knock-about  vaudeville  show  in  which  I  was 
now  performer,  now  audience.  Then  the  sinister 
happened — I  don't  know  how,  exactly — but  the  Prince 
gave  a  groan  and  put  his  hand  to  his  head  ;  and  I 
saw  the  sly,  rheumy  eyes  of  Vossburg  over  his 
shoulder — a  moment  only — before  the  Prince  stumbled 
up  against  me,  deathly  white. 

With  one  arm  around  him,  I  saw  the  hair  on  his 
head  redden  and  grow  wet  where  the  blow  from  be 
hind  had  fallen  ;  and,  quite  deliberately,  I  drew  my 
revolver  with  my  disengaged  hand  and  raised  it, 
searching  for  Vossbtirg's  hoary,  bloated  face.  He 
had  vanished. 

When  the  harmless  Luxembourg  gendarmerie  and 
populace  caught  sight  of  real  blood  they  became 
frightened ;  the  glimpse  of  a  real  revolver,  too,  shocked 
them ;  the  gendarmes  ran  in  little  circles  like  luna- 

92 


THE    GRAND    DUCHESS 

tics,  and  the  mild  citizens  automatically  followed  their 
example,  as  a  colony  of  water-fleas  scatters,  frenzied 
by  a  pebble  tossed  among  them. 

For  a  moment  I  held  the  Prince  on  his  feet ;  then 
he  grew  faint,  and  slowly  sank,  a  dead  weight  in  my 
arms.  I  lowered  him  gently  to  the  door -step  and 
knelt  beside  him. 

( '  There's  more  than  an  Emperor's  malice  in  this,"  I 
said,  in  a  low  voice,  looking  sternly  at  Giroux. 

It  was  plain  enough  to  me  now ;  Vossburg  and 
Wiepert  were  in  Luxembourg  not  only  to  summon 
Prince  Edric  to  Berlin,  but  also  to  create  a  pretext 
for  German  intervention.  An  assault  on  the  Prince 
was  sufficient  to  start  a  German  army  corps  marching. 
"Who  would  believe  it  was  committed  by  the  Em 
peror's  own  agents,  and  not  by  citizens  ? 

I  sprang  to  my  feet  and  looked  at  the  frightened 
people,  now  crowding  in  on  every  side. 

"  I  call  you  to  witness,  Captain  Giroux,"  I  said, 
speaking  very  distinctly,  "and  I  call  all  honest  citi 
zens  to  witness,  that  it  was  a  German  agent  who  struck 
the  Prince,  and  not  a  Luxembourgeois  I" 

I  paused  ;  somebody  in  the  crowd  said  :  "  We  wit 
ness  I"  and  others  joined  in  :  "  Yes  !  yes  !  We  wit 
ness  !" 

"  I  am  not  willing  to  believe  that  his  German  Maj 
esty  seeks  pretexts  to  march  on  Luxembourg,"  I  said, 
loudly;  "nor  do  I  imagine  for  a  moment  that  the 
great  Emperor  of  a  great  nation  inspires  his  agents 
to  create  pretexts  by  assaulting  German  subjects. 
Therefore,  that  villanous  old  creature,  Vossburg,  is  a 
common  assassin,  and  his  capture  and  punishment 
the  duty  of  all  good  policemen  and  citizens !" 

93 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

The  crowd  cheered  ;  somebody  shouted  :  "  Down 
with  Germany !" 

"A  few  more  similar  suggestions,"  I  said,  sarcas 
tically,  "  will  doubtless  bring  Germany  down,  as  you 
say,  but  down  on  you  /" 

The  Prince  had  recovered  from  his  momentary 
faintness,  while  Giroux  bandaged  his  head  with  hand 
kerchiefs,  and  now  he  sat  up,  dizzy  and  pallid,  un 
recognisable  under  his  swathed  features. 

I  placed  my  arms  under  his,  but  he  said:  "Wait 
a  moment ;  let  me  sit  quietly ;  Fll  be  all  right  in  a 
second." 

He  thanked  Giroux  and  rested  his  elbow  on  one 
knee,  the  hand  supporting  his  aching  head. 

"  I'm  not  going  into  your  Legation,  you  know,"  he 
said,  with  a  faint  smile  ;  "  Fve  done  you  enough  harm 
for  one  day/' 

I  started  to  reply,  but  Giroux,  suddenly  excited, 
plucked  me  by  the  sleeve  spasmodically,  and  at  the 
same  moment  I  saw  the  crowd  parting  and  swaying 
back,  leaving  a  lane  in  the  middle,  through  which  a 
carriage,  preceded  by  two  powdered  outriders,  gor 
geous  in  green  and  gold  liveries,  drove  slowly  up  and 
stopped  before  the  Legation. 

"Her  Highness,"  stammered  Giroux,  "the  Grand 
Duchess  of  Luxembourg  I" 

I  saw  him  raise  his  hand  to  his  shako  in  trembling 
salute ;  I  saw  the  people,  heads  bared,  lining  the 
curbstone  in  respectful  silence,  while  the  gendarmes, 
left  hands  resting  on  their  sheathed  sabres,  stood  in 
rows,  right  hands  at  a  stiff  angle  with  their  peaked 
caps. 

Prince  Edric  tried  to  rise  ;  the  blood  starting  under 
94 


THE    GRAND    DUCHESS 

the  bandages  blinded  him  and  he  sat  down,,  leaning 
on  my  shoulder. 

In  the  carriage  were  two  ladies  dressed  in  white  :  one 
very  blonde,  with  a  skin  like  translucent  pearl-shell 
and  hair  redder  than  molten  copper  ;  the  other  dark, 
exquisite,  almost  a  child — the  same  woman  whom  I 
had  deliberately  kissed  through  my  prison  screen — the 
Grand  Duchess  of  Luxembourg  ! 

When  they  saw  Prince  Edric  on  the  steps,  they  half 
rose  from  their  seats,  and  bent  forward.  The  Prince 
managed  to  stagger  to  his  feet  and  bow,  leaning  on 
me.  The  cool  inclination  of  the  Duchess  seemed  to 
me  so  utterly  heartless  that  I  felt  resentment  tingling 
my  face. 

' '  Who  is  he  ?"  she  asked,  looking  unblushingly  at 
me ;  "and  is  he  badly  hurt,  monsieur  ?" 

"Madame/"  I  replied,  grimly,  "a  surgeon  can  in 
form  you  of  his  injury ;  her  Highness  the  Grand 
Duchess  of  Luxembourg  must  enlighten  you  con 
cerning  his  identity." 

"I  ?"  exclaimed  the  other  lady — the  blond  beauty 
with  the  splendid  red  hair. 

I  turned  to  her,  bewildered. 

"I  am  the  Duchess  of  Luxembourg," she  repeated, 
impatiently ;  then,  as  two  gendarmes  supported  the 
Prince  to  the  carriage  steps,  she  recognised  him  in 
spite  of  his  battered  condition  and  stepped  out  hastily 
to  the  sidewalk  with  a  little  cry  of  amazement,  mo 
tioning  the  gendarmes  to  place  Prince  Edric  in  her 
carriage. 

I  fell  back  and  pulled  Giroux  with  me. 

"  Which  is  the  Duchess  ?"  I  demanded,  under  my 
breath  ;  "the  one  with  the  red  hair  ?" 

95 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

e '  Yes,"  he  said,  in  some  surprise. 

"  And  the  other  ?" 

"The  other  ?  Why  that  is  the  Countess  of  Wilver 
wiltz." 

"Who?" 

"  Amyce  de  Wiltz,  Countess  of  Wilverwiltz  !  Mon 
sieur,  you  are  pinching  my  arm." 

"What  did  you  tell  me  she  was  the  Duchess  for  ?" 

"  I  didn't,"  gurgled  the  Prefet,  in  injured  surprise. 

"You  did — last  night  in  prison  !" 

The  moment  I  said  it  I  saw  that  I  was  not  the  only 
one  who  had  been  duped.  He  began  to  open  his 
round  yellow  eyes  and,  unless  I  had  instantly  dissi 
pated  his  slowly  crystallising  suspicions,  he  would 
have  known  what  I  now  knew  —  that  it  was  the 
cloaked  and  hooded  little  Countess  of  Wilverwiltz 
who  had  imposed  on  Giroux,  and  who  had  been  kissed 
by  me  in  prison. 

"  Captain  Giroux,"  I  whispered,  "  you  have  been 
ridiculed  and  deceived;  I  never  before  set  eyes  on 
either  the  Duchess  of  Luxembourg  or  the  Countess  of 
Wilverwiltz !" 

"  But  you  said — "  he  began. 

"I  said  that  my  visitor  was  young — like  the  Count 
ess — but  she  had  yellow  hair  and  blue  eyes,  idiot ! — 
that's  what  I  said  !" 

Before  Giroux  could  reply  a  gendarme  came  to  the 
steps  where  I  stood  and,  saluting  respectfully,  said 
that  the  Duchess  wished  to  speak  to  me. 

As  I  went  out  to  the  curb,  bareheaded,  I  caught  an 
amused  twinkle  in  Prince  Edric's  eyes,  as  he  lay  back 
on  the  cushions  between  the  Duchess  and  the  little 
Countess. 

96 


THE    GRAND    DUCHESS 

I  bowed  and  looked  innocently  at  the  Countess  of 
Wilverwiltz. 

The  Duchess  smiled  brightly  and  said : 

"  Lieutenant  Hardy,  you  know  how  welcome  Ameri 
cans  are  to  us  all  in  Luxembourg.  It  will  give  me 
particular  pleasure  to  receive  you  when  his  Excel 
lency  the  United  States  Minister  returns  from  The 
Hague.  Thank  you  for  being  kind  to  Prince  Edric." 

I  bowed  again  and  expressed  myself  suitably,  thank 
ing  the  Duchess  for  her  courteous  words  concerning 
my  country. 

"You  are  very  modest,"  she  said,  laughing;  "per 
haps  I  meant  you  yourself  would  be  welcomed  what 
ever  your  nationality." 

I  involuntarily  glanced  at  Amyce,  Countess  of  Wil 
verwiltz,  and  caught  her  dark  eyes  fixed  curiously  on 
me. 

Then,  Heaven  knows  why,  I  blushed  to  the  roots  of 
my  hair. 

ff  All  the  same/'  I  thought  to  myself,  as  the  car 
riage  drove  carefully  away,  "they  don't  seem  much 
alarmed  about  poor  Edric  ;  they  are  a  cold-blooded 
duet,  and  as  pretty  as  the  rest  of  their  soulless  com 
patriots." 

As  I  turned  back  towards  the  doorway,  Giroux  hum 
bly  tugged  at  my  sleeve. 

"Monsieur — pardon! — are  you,  who  stand  so  high 
in  the  favour  of  our  Duchess,  contemplating  chastise 
ment  for  me  ?" 

"  Perhaps,"  I  said,  with  satisfaction. 

"  Monsieur — " 

"  You'd  better  arrest  that  hoary  old  devil  Vossburg 
before  I  make  terms  with  you,  you  ridiculous  prod- 
o  97 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

net  of  an  absnrd  city/'  I  said,  and  entered  the  Lega 
tion  a  prey  to  mixed  emotions.  What  would  Osborne 
say?  What  would  his  Excellency  say?  What  would 
William  the  Sudden  do  ? 

I  sat  down  on  the  stairs ;  a  porcelain-faced  maid 
peeped  at  me  through  the  library  curtains,  but  I 
didn't  care.  I  summed  up  my  performances  and  men 
tally  pigeon-holed  each.  First,  I  had  kissed  Amyce, 
Countess  of  Wilverwiltz  ;  second,  I  had  assaulted 
William  the  Sudden's  spies ;  third,  I  had  invited  Prince 
Edric  into  the  United  States  Legation,  and  then  made 
his  nose  bleed  ;  fourth,  I  had  engaged  in  a  riot  in  the 
street  under  the  windows  of  my  Legation.  And  all 
in  twenty-four  hours. 

About  dusk  Osborne  sauntered  in  and  found  me 
still  sitting  on  the  stairs. 

"  What  the  devil  are  you  doing  here  ?"  he  asked. 

"  Nothing,"  I  sighed.  That  was  a  misstatement;  I 
was  thinking  of  Amyce  de  Wiltz,  Countess  of  Wilver 
wiltz. 

"  Why  on  earth  should  she  impersonate  the  Duch 
ess  ?"  I  said,  irritably. 

"  Who  ?"  asked  Osborne. 

"Nobody — what  did  I  say?" 

"Something about  having  had  too  many  cocktails," 
said  Osborne,  flippantly,  and  went  up-stairs,  whistling 
"  Garry  o  wen." 

I  disdained  to  retort ;  a  vague  reminiscent  tender 
ness  stole  over  me ;  I  closed  my  eyes  and  saw  the 
screen  in  the  prison  wall  and  two  dark  eyes  under  the 
scarlet  hood,  and  two  lips,  redder  than  the  hood. 

"  In  the  meantime,"  I  said,  aloud,  "  she  is  doubt 
less  nursing  Prince  Edric  in  the  palace.  But  I  don't 


THE    GRAND    DUCHESS 

see  why  I  should  care."    I  ascended  the   carpeted 
stairs  thoughtfully. 

"  Let  her  nurse  him  ;  what  do  I  care  ?"  I  repeated  ; 
"only  Fd  like  to  know  why  she  impersonated  the 
Duchess  to  tell  Prince  Edric  she  adored  him." 

I  was  rather  tired,  almost  too  tired,  to  dress  for 
dinner,  but  Osborne  came  in  looking  so  civilised  that 
I  set  about  my  toilet  with  a  groan. 

<s  Pegged  out  ?"  inquired  Osborne,  sitting  down  on 
the  edge  of  the  bed. 

"  Slightly,"  I  said,  sarcastically.  I  had  not  slept  a 
wink  in  prison  the  night  before  ;  of  course  he  did  not 
know  I  had  been  in  jail,  and  I  had  no  desire  to  tell  him. 

"Find  anything  interesting  about  town  ?"  he  asked. 

"A  few  rotten  fortifications  and  a  corporal's  guard," 
I  replied.  "  I  don't  see  what  the  government  sent  a 
military  attache  here  for." 

"You  will  see  later;  I  have  despatches  from  his 
Excellency  by  to-night's  mail.  Oh,  you've  got  a  jolly 
role  to  play  yet,  my  son." 

"  What  are  the  despatches  ?"  I  asked,  sponging 
head  and  shoulders  in  icy  water. 

"  Tell  you  after  dinner  ;  hurry  up." 

I  dried  my  dripping  features,  fussed  with  shirts, 
collars,  and  white  ties,  and  finally  appeared  from  the 
dressing-room  ready  for  dinner  or  anything  else  as 
serious. 

We  dined  in  rather  melancholy  state,  Osborne  and 
I,  served  faultlessly  by  a  placid  Luxembourgeois. 

During  dinner  I  gave  Osborne  a  sketch  of  the 
episode  leading  up  to  my  private  riot  in  the  street 
before  the  Legation.  He  was  horrified,  and  he  told 
me  so. 

99 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"Where  on  earth  did  you  meet  Prince  Edric  ?"  he 
asked. 

I  evaded  the  question,  not  desiring  to  contribute  to 
Osborne's  stock  stories  a  recital  of  how  an  American 
officer  was  l '  held  up  "  and  robbed  of  his  passport  by  a 
German  Prince. 

"  None  of  your  business,"  I  replied  ;  ' '  I  know  him 
and  that's  sufficient.  I  don't  see  why  the  thing  need 
have  unpleasant  consequences  ;  do  you  ?" 

"  Of  course  I  do,"  he  said  ;  "  a  fine  diplomat  you 
are,  bringing  a  German  into  our  Legation  and  resisting 
his  extradition  when  the  Sudden  One  is  sitting  up 
nights  to  think  of  a  pretext  for  war  I" 

I  thought,  however,  I  detected  a  note  of  banter  in 
his  voice  ;  doubtless  he  was  rubbing  it  in  and  trying 
to  scare  me. 

"Pooh,"  I  said,  "Fve  got  a  hundred  witnesses  to 
prove  that  old  Vossburg  struck  the  Prince.  As  for 
harbouring  him,  I  didn't,  because  the  Duchess  carted 
him  off.  You  can't  disturb  my  appetite." 

"Well,"  he  said,  more  seriously,  "I  don't  believe 
there  will  be  a  row.  But  remember  one  thing  :  all 
over  Europe  our  military  attaches  are  regarded  with 
favour  where  the  French,  English,  and  Russian  at 
taches  are  hated  and  suspected,  because  they  are 
simply  and  solely  the  most  expert  spies  their  gov 
ernments  can  find  for  the  posts.  Now  our  at 
taches  don't  spy  and  rummage  to  any  alarming  ex 
tent;  it  isn't  our  policy.  Therefore,  you  are  welcome 
here,  and  you  have  every  facility  for  learning  chalk 
from  cheese.  Be  careful  not  to  become  unpopu 
lar." 

I  nodded. 

100 


THE    GRAStoj  D'UCHESS 

"Speaking  of  cWese/'  ]•  saidy '" 'l-eft jb/We  that  and 
coffee  up  in  the  smoking-room." 

"No;  come  to  my  room,"  he  replied,  rising  and 
giving  the  order  for  coffee  to  be  served. 

We  lighted  cigars  and  strolled  up-stairs  again  to  his 
own  room,  where  I  immediately  lay  down  on  the  bed 
and  sipped  my  coffee  Turk  fashion,  in  spite  of  his  ob 
jections. 

"  Osborne,"  I  said,  blinking  at  him  through  the 
smoke  of  my  cigar,  "who  and  what  is  the  Grand 
Duchess  ?" 

"  The  Duchess  ?  She's  a  pretty  girl  who  wears  nice 
frocks  and  makes  herself  unhappy  because  her  hus 
band  neglects  her." 

"Perhaps  he  thinks  she  neglects  him,"  I  said,  in 
nocently. 

Osborne  picked  up  a  gun-case  from  the  sofa  and  un 
strapped  it. 

"I've  heard  that,  too,"  he  said ;  "  it's  a  pity  they 
can't  agree;  he's  a  nice  young  fellow,  educated  in 
England,  you  know,  and  a  thorough  sportsman.  He'll 
invite  you  to  shoot,  I  fancy ;  he  invites  everybody." 

"  Thanks,"  I  said,  dryly ;  "  I'll  accept  if  you  can 
bribe  his  keeper  to  invite  you." 

Osborne  had  removed  his  coat,  and  now  sat  polish 
ing  the  barrels  of  a  Greener  12-bore,  as  pretty  a  little 
shot-gun  as  I  ever  saw.  I  watched  him  without  com 
ment  ;  he  wrapped  the  fowling-piece  carefully  in  oiled 
flannel  and  slid  it  into  its  case  again.  Then  he  opened 
another  case  and  selected  another  gun. 

"  Who  is  the  Countess  of  Wilverwiltz  ?"  I  asked, 
carelessly. 

"  Oh,  our  pretty  Amyce  de  Wiltz  ?" 
101 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 
Ir  :ht  "' 


"I  suppose  she's  somebody's,"  I  said  ;  "but  I  didn't 
know  you  were  a  shareholder.  Who  is  she  ?" 

"  She's  the  gayest  and  cleverest  of  the  lot,"  he  said, 
snapping  the  locks  of  a  16-bore  Scott  to  test  the  click. 
"She's  a  widow,  married  old  Count  Wilverwiltz  on 
his  death-bed  to  please  the  Duchess.  She's  the  life  of 
a  particularly  humdrum  court  ;  she's  a  vixen  too,  if 
you  cross  her.  And  you  ought  to  see  her  in  private 
theatricals  !  —  by  Jove,  but  she  can  act  I" 

"  Act  ?"  I  repeated.  An  uncomfortable  suspicion 
began  to  develop  in  my  mind. 

"  Act  !  Rather.  She  can  weep  real  tears,  and  she 
can  make  you  weep  'em  too.  She  is  generous,  ca 
pricious.  impulsive,  and  illogical.  You'll  probably  fall 
in  love  with  her  ;  we  all  do." 

"  Do  you  indeed  ?"  I  said,  feeling  unpleasant,  and 
not  knowing  why. 

"  Yes;  then  we  all  get  over  it  and  fall  in  love  with 
the  Duchess.  I  am,  now.'"' 

"  In  love  with  the  DucLu  —  ':" 

"  Yes.  So's  his  Excellency.  Wait  until  he  comes 
back  from  Amsterdam  and  The  Hague,  and  we'll  all 
be  invited  to  Wilverwiltz  for  the  boar-hunting.  Then 
you'll  see  games,  my  son  !  —  you'll  see  his  Excellency 
dancing  after  the  Duchess  and  the  whole  callow  outfit 
after  him,  while  she.  poor  little  girl,  worries  her  life 
out  because  she  doesn't  understand  her  husband." 

After  a  moment  I  said  : 

ff  Tell  me  more  about  the  Countess  of  Wilverwiltz. 
Do  you  —  er  —  have  you  any  reason  to  suppose  that  she 
is  in  love  ?" 

"  In  love  ?  Xot  much.  Little  Amyce  looks  out 
102 


THE    GRAND    DUCHESS 

for  her  precious  self  too  keenly.  But  she'll  flirt — oh, 
heaven  !  how  she'll  flirt  I" 

"  Will  she  ?"  I  said,  savagely. 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  later  I  sat  upon  the  bed  and 
rearranged  Osborne's  rumpled  pillows. 

"  What  were  those  despatches  that  came  to-night  ?" 
I  asked. 

"  Orders  for  you  to  resign  from  the  United  States 
service,  and  enter  the  Luxembourg  army  and  reorgan 
ise  it,"  grinned  Osborne. 

"  Nonsense  !"  I  exclaimed,  incredulously. 

He  nodded : 

"It's  a  secret,  of  course;  it's  an  understanding 
between  our  government  and  the  Luxembourg  gov 
ernment.  You  are  to  resign  for  a  while  —  to  spare 
German  susceptibilities — and  undertake  the  reorgan 
isation  of  the  Luxembourg  army  —  just  think!  —  a 
whole  battalion !" 

"I  won't  do  it!"  I  cried,  angrily;  "it's  ridicu 
lous  I" 

"  Oh  yes,  you  will ;  that's  the  real  reason  the  gov 
ernment  sent  you  here.  Besides,  you're  to  recruit  new 
regiments,  because  compulsory  service  is  about  to  be 
sprung  on  these  unsuspecting  Luxembourg  cattle. 
Why,  man,  it's  the  chance  of  your  life  !" 

"When,"  said  I,  rather  blankly,  "am  I  to  begin 
this  thing  ?" 

"  Next  Monday/'  replied  Osborne,  cheerfully  ;  "you 
get  your  commission  as  aide-de-camp  to  the  chief  of 
the  Luxembourg  general  staff.  That's  only  a  bluff  ; 
the  Duke's  the  staff,  and  you  are  simply  to  tell  him 
how  things  should  be  done." 

The  unexpectedness  of  the  thing  left  me  without 
103 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

argument.  If  it  was  true  that  the  Luxembourg  army 
was  to  be  increased,  I  had  a  fancy  for  the  work  in 
hand,  and  expected  to  make  it  interesting. 

"The  manoeuvres  will  be  held  near  Wilverwiltz," 
said  Osborne,  carelessly ;  "  you'll  find  the  air  and 
food  good,  the  shooting  excellent,  the  Duke  and  the 
Duchess  very  kind — but  God  knows  how  you'll  find 
the  Countess  Amyce  \" 

"I  believe  yon're  afraid  of  her,"  I  said. 

"  I  am,"  he  replied,  sincerely. 

"  Why  ?" 

"  Because,"  he  said,  "  I  never  knew  of  a  man  whom 
she  did  not  sooner  or  later  make  ridiculous.  She'll 
make  you  ridiculous  too." 

"  We'll  see,"  I  said,  indignantly,  remembering  the 
check  I  might  exercise,  if  I  chose,  on  the  amusement- 
loving  countess. 

"  Yes — you'll  see,"  yawned  Osborne. 

I  bade  him  good-night  and  went  to  bed. 

I  was  too  tired  to  dream ;  so  it  was  eight  long  hours 
before  I  again  thought  of  the  Countess  of  Wilver 
wiltz. 


CHAPTER  XII 
THE   GOLD-FISHEKS 

Wherein  two  young  people  cast  bread  upon  the  waters  and  one  of 
them  thinks  to  catch  the  wind  in  a  net 

I  AWOKE  shortly  after  sunrise ;  sparrows  twittered 
a  pretty  subdued  chorus  under  my  window  ;  overhead 
through  the  saffron  haze  a  skylark  winging,  swung, 
singing  unceasingly.  Bells  sounded,  mellow  Belgian 
bells,  chiming  for  new-born  hours. 

I  opened  the  window  and  looked  out  over  silent 
streets  down  the  leafy  ravine  where  the  Alzette 
sparkled  through  still  verdure ;  and  the  incense  of 
silver  dew,  exhaling  in  the  first  sunwarmth,  sweetened 
every  breath  I  drew. 

Tall  white  viaducts  spanned  the  ravine  like  arches 
chopped  in  snow ;  creamy  towers  and  ramparts,  veiled 
in  the  morning  dimness,  circled  the  gray-green  land 
scape,  as  a  trail  of  melting  frost  rings  meadow-vales  at 
break  of  day. 

Yet  the  beauty  of  it  all  left  me  unsatisfied ;  the 
chameleon  colour,  the  stillness,  the  frail  enchant 
ment,  the  scented  silence  disturbed  me.  This  was 
not  the  world ;  lights  were  too  delicate,  shadows  too 
indistinct ;  the  earth  itself  seemed  fragile  as  crusted 
pearl,  inlaid  with  gemmed  grass,  enamelled  in  dainty 
flower  patterns,  that  troubled  me  all  the  more  be 
cause  of  their  perfume.  The  world  is  something 

105 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

else  —  it  is  rankly  aromatic ;  it  is  wind  and  cloud 
and  warm  sunshine  and  the  green  juice  of  living 
leaves ;  it  is  bedded  oaks  and  doubly  bedded  rocks ; 
it  is  the  rush  and  churning  of  swift  waters,  it  is  the 
roughened  surface  of  gray  lakes,  it  is  the  ceaseless 
swing  and  surge  of  seas,  rocking  forever  from  pole  to 
pole. 

But  this  land  of  dyes  and  tinted  skies  and  silence, 
this  exquisitely  formal  landscape,  dainty,  conven 
tional,  cunningly  wrought  with  finer  reproductions 
from  nature's  robust  originals,  disconcerted  me.  I 
felt  out  of  touch  with  real  things ;  I  missed  the  strong 
odour  of  fresh  earth  and  tree-roots  and  healthy  un- 
filtered  streams  and  rotting  forest  mould. 

"I  suppose  somebody  shampoos  the  squirrels  and 
curry-combs  the  rabbits  out  there  in  the  forests,"  I 
thought ;  "  anyway  somebody  has  dusted  off  the  sky 
and  varnished  all  the  buttercups.  Oh,  this  world  of 
Dresden-china  I" 

All  day  long  Osborne  sat  in  his  den,  busy  with  de 
spatches,  deciphering  code  messages  from  Washington 
and  The  Hague,  copying  memoranda,  using  a  type 
writer  at  times  until  I  objected  to  the  eternal  click- 
click-ting-a-ling-scra-ape  !  click  !  click  ! 

"  Haven't  you  anything  to  do  ?"  asked  Osborne,  irri 
tably.  "  I  wish  you  wouldn't  keep  looking  at  the  back 
of  my  head." 

"  I've  something  better  to  do  than  to  listen  to  your 
grunts  and  groans — if  anybody  should  ask  you,"  I  re 
plied.  "I'm  going  out.  Come  on." 

Osborne  returned  to  his  typewriter. 

"  Come  on,"  I  repeated  ;  "  let's  do  something  !" 

"If  you  want  something  to  do,"  he  said,  "go  and 
106 


THE    GOLD-FISHERS 

inquire  how  Prince  Edric  is.  Yon  may  see  the  Count 
ess,  you  know/'  he  added,  maliciously. 

Now  that  is  exactly  what  I  had  been  contemplating, 
but  for  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  experienced  a  sensa 
tion  that  I  had  never  before  suspected  myself  capable 
of — timidity. 

"Do  you  suppose  it  would  be  all  right  ?"  I  asked. 

"  What  ?  Oh,  don't  get  an  idea  that  there's  any 
formality  about  this  court !  It's  a  free  and  easy  aris 
tocracy,  and  not  as  impressive  as  it  might  be.  You'd 
never  know  the  Duke  was  a  duke  nor  the  Duchess  a 
duchess  if  the  soldiers  didn't  present  arms  every  now 
and  again." 

"  Then  you  think  I  might  present  myself  too  ?" 

"  Why  not  ?  In  a  week  you'll  be  the  Duke's  aide- 
de-camp.  I  tell  you  they  are  anything  but  formal.  As 
for  Edric,  he's  no  longer  a  German  prince." 

"  Oh,  I'm  not  afraid  of  Edric,"  I  said,  laughing, 
"  though  we  once  had  a  difference  concerning  a  ques 
tion  of  precedence." 

As  I  went  away  down  the  stairs,  Osborne  called 
after  me  :  "I  forgot  to  say  that  the  Duke's  tailor  is 
coming  to  measure  you  for  six  uniforms  at  five 
o'clock !" 

Six  uniforms  for  one  aide-de-camp  !  It  was  almost 
enough  to  clothe  the  whole  army.  The  cultivated 
distaste  of  a  United  States  officer  for  anything  but 
disreputable  uniforms  was  as  strong  in  me  as  in  the 
dowdiest  old  colonel  west  of  the  Mississippi.  I,  who 
was  so  particular  when  in  mufti,  felt  it  a  humiliation, 
almost  a  degradation,  to  be  forced  into  a  decent, 
tasteful,  artistic,  and  reasonable  military  dress.  It  is 
one  of  our  little  Anglo-Saxon  hypocrisies  to  cry 

107 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

6 { Vanity  of  Vanity  !"  which  is  in  itself  but  a  sorry 
sort  of  vanity. 

"Fuss  and  feathers,  gold -lace  and  braid,"  I  re 
peated,  just  as  I  had  heard  my  uncultivated  country 
men  repeat :  "  I  won't  be  a  guy  to  please  the  Duke  or 
his  Excellency  or  anybody  else."  And  I  went  out 
into  the  street,  conscious  that  my  civilian  wardrobe 
did  me  justice  ! 

Before  I  entered  the  Boulevard  des  Cures  where,  on 
the  corner  of  the  Rue  du  Gouvernment,  the  Hotel  de 
la  Maison  Royale  stands,  I  felt  little  trepidation  at 
the  prospect  of  meeting  the  Countess  of  Wilverwiltz. 
Yet,  when  I  came  in  sight  of  the  Palace,  I  experienced 
a  distinct  desire  to  stop.  And  I  did. 

"  Suppose/'  said  I  to  myself,  ' '  that  Prince  Edric  has 
gently  chided  the  Duchess  for  coming  to  the  prison — 
the  Duchess  who  is  absolutely  innocent !  What  a 
row  !" 

An  old  apple-woman  wheeled  her  push-cart  up  be 
side  me  and  sold  me  six  apples,  which  I  paid  for  and 
returned  to  her  with  a  bow.  I  was  quite  willing  to 
buy  anything  to  gain  time ;  she  missed  her  fortune 
that  day,  poor  soul. 

tf  Suppose,"  thought  I  to  myself,  "  that  the  Countess 
hears  that  it  was  I  and  not  Edric  who  made  love  to 
her  in  prison  !" 

I  took  a  stroll  down  the  Place  d'Armes  to  gain  more 
time. 

"Dear  me,"  I  thought,  "if  time  is  money  and  I 
gain  time  at  such  a  rapid  rate  III  have  a  surplus  in 
the  treasury  by  evening." 

A  girl  sold  me  a  bunch  of  corn-flowers  and  laughed 
prettily  when  I  overpaid  her.  I  told  her  to  imitate 

108 


THE    GOLD-FISHERS 

the  saints  and  shame  the  devil,  and  walked  into  the 
Rne  de  Genie  to  gain  more  time. 

"Nevertheless/'  thought  I,  as  a  child  sold  me  a 
dozen  slate-pencils,  "  Fm  none  the  richer  for  my  ava 
rice  ;"  and  I  gave  the  slate-pencils  back  to  the  child 
and  added  all  my  loose  coppers  to  the  restitution. 

"Little  boy,"  said  I,  "never  do  work  to-day  that 
you  can  put  off  till  to-morrow ;  I  never  do.  And  it 
is  singular,"  I  added,  "how  the  work  accumulates." 

By  that  time  I  was  in  front  of  the  palace  again, 
where  two  sentinels  paraded,  bayonets  fixed,  chin- 
straps  down. 

I  regarded  my  future  troops  with  disapproval ;  then, 
remembering  all  the  surplus  time  I  had  hoarded  up, 
decided  to  spend  a  little  of  it  in  seeking  Prince  Edric. 

"Not  that  I  care  tuppence  whether  or  not  the 
Countess  knows  I  kissed  her,"  thought  I ;  "  but  it 
is  disconcerting  to  be  snubbed  by  somebody  you  know 
well  enough  to  make  love  to,  and  not  to  bow  to." 

" Fancy,"  I  continued  to  myself,  "people  asking 
me  :  'Do  you  know  the  Countess  ?'  and  my  confess 
ing  that  we  were  merely  on  kissing  terms." 

Thoughtfully,  head  chastely  bent,  hands  clasped 
behind  my  back,  I  entered  the  Palace  court ;  and,  as 
I  strolled,  I  pondered  on  that  strange  encounter  in 
the  prison. 

There  were  soldiers  about,  some  sitting  on  stone 
benches  outside  the  guard -house,  sunlight  shining 
full  on  their  scarlet  and  blue  uniforms,  some  patrol 
ling  the  inner  court-yards,  bayonets  fixed.  A  non 
commissioned  officer  wandered  into  view,  and  I  went 
to  meet  him.  We  saluted  each  other  profoundly. 

"  I  came,"  said  I,  "  to  visit  Prince  Edric,  of  Prus- 
109 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

sia.  "Will  there  be  any  difficulty  about  obtaining 
admission  ?" 

"  None  that  I  know  of,"  he  said. 

"  Then  I  may  see  him  ?" 

"  Why  not,  monsieur  ?" 

"  I  suppose  it  would  not  be  possible  to  see  the 
Duchess  ?" 

"  I  don't  know  why,"  he  replied,  placidly. 

"  Or  the  —  the  Countess  of  Wilverwiltz  ?" 

"  Monsieur,  you.  may  go  where  it  pleases  you,  and 
you  may  see  whom  you  please  in  Luxembourg,"  he 
said,  indifferently. 

As  I  climbed  the  broad  Palace  steps,  I  thought  to 
myself  that  when  things  were  reorganized  in  Luxem 
bourg  Pd  put  an  end  to  informality.  The  despotism 
of  aristocracy  is  sometimes  envied  by  those  whose 
Republican  heritage  has  become  tainted  with  license. 

There  were  flunkies  roaming  about  in  every  direc 
tion  ;  one  of  these  embroidered  adjuncts  directed  me 
to  cross  a  grassy  inner  court  to  the  western  wing  of 
the  Palace,  where  doubtless  the  guards  would  know 
what  was  next  to  be  done. 

The  inner  court,  bordered  by  gray  arcades,  echoed 
with  the  music  of  falling  water  where  two  broad  foun 
tains  splashed  in  the  shadow.  It  echoed  with  some 
thing  pleasanter,  too  —  the  melody  of  laughter  and 
young  voices  chattering. 

I  saw  them  at  once — the  Duchess,  the  Countess  of 
Wilverwiltz,  and  another — a  very  young  girl  with  an 
orange  sunshade.  They  stood  close  to  the  stone  edge 
of  the  southern  fountain -pool,  greatly  interested  in 
the  efforts  of  the  Countess,  who  was  attempting  to  fish 
for  a  goldfish  with  a  bent  pin  and  a  thread.  She 

110 


THE    GOLD-FISHERS 

had  hold  of  one  fat  fish,  brilliant  as  a  live  coal,  who 
floundered  and  spattered  among  the  lotus  blossoms, 
and  wound  the  thread  around  stem  and  root  so  tight 
ly  that  the  Countess,  fairly  outgeneralled,  could  do 
nothing  but  hold  her  end  of  the  thread  while  the 
Duchess  poked  the  lotus  buds  with  her  parasol  to 
disentangle  things. 

The  Countess  saw  me  first,  but  pretended  not  to ; 
it  was  the  Duchess  who  apparently  discovered  me  as 
I  passed  the  southern  arcades. 

She  did  not  appear  to  be  surprised  ;  she  laughed 
prettily,  and  made  a  despairing  gesture  toward  the 
fountain : 

"  Please,  Lieutenant  Hardy,  aid  us  to  reason  with 
this  disloyal  fish  !  We  wish  to  place  him  in  the  other 
fountain  and  he  won't  go." 

As  I  crossed  the  grass  and  joined  them,  the  Countess 
glanced  up  at  me  with  the  faintest  flush  of  recogni 
tion  ;  but  her  voice  and  manner  were  cool  to  indiffer 
ence  when  I  was  presented.  The  very  young  girl 
with  the  orange  sunshade  was  Mademoiselle  Bettina 
d'Yssel,  a  distant  cousin,  who  still  bore  traces  of  con 
vent  pallor  on  her  face,  and  whose  very  skirts  were 
fragrant  with  the  scent  of  convent  gardens. 

"Prince  Edric  is  asleep  and  quite  comfortable/' 
said  the  Duchess,  "  but  it's  time  he  awaked,  and  you. 
may  go  and  rouse  him  as  soon  as  you  disentangle  our 
fishing-line." 

"And  catch  that  fish,"  added  the  Countess  Am- 
yce. 

I  took  the  line  from  her  gloved  hand  and  stepped 
onto  the  curbed  stone  rim  of  the  pool. 

"  Do  be  careful,  monsieur,"  said  the  Countess,  in  a 
111 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

voice  that  satisfied  me  she  would  give  every  ring  off 
her  pretty  fingers  to  see  me  tumble  in. 

I  had  to  break  off  a  lotus  flower  to  get  the  line ; 
after  that  it  was  not  difficult,  and  in. a  few  moments 
I  drew  the  fat  red  fish  up  to  the  fountain  edge,  lifted 
it,  carried  it  flapping  across  the  grass,  and  plumped 
it  into  the  other  fountain,  none  the  worse  for  the 
journey. 

"Now,"  said  the  Duchess,  sedately,  "  we  can  go  for 
our  drive  with  a  sense  of  duty  done — can't  we, 
Amyce  ?" 

"I  shall  not  go,"  said  the  Countess  Amyce;  "I 
shall  catch  more  fish — unless  Lieutenant  Hardy  has 
ruined  my  hook  and  line." 

"I  don't  see/'  said  the  Duchess,  "why  you  would 
rather  fish  than  drive  to  the  Semois.  Still,  if  you 
wish—" 

"  I  like  to  catch  things,"  said  the  Countess,  examin 
ing  the  bent  pin  and  carefully  baiting  it  with  a  crumb 
of  bread. 

The  Duchess  watched  the  process,  pleasantly  in 
different  ;  I  offered  to  bait  the  pin  securely  and  was 
told  that  I  didn't  know  how. 

"If  you  are  amiable,"  said  the  Duchess,  smiling  at 
me,  "you  will  come  to  us  at  Wilverwiltz  next  Mon 
day.  Do  you  care  for  boar-hunting  ?  There  are 
wolf-drives  too,  next  month.  But  of  course  you  will 
come ;  my  husband  expects —  " 

She  hesitated,  with  a  significant  glance  at  the 
others. 

"I  am  to  be  fitted  for  my  uniforms  at  five  to-day," 
I  said.  So  she  understood  that  I  had  accepted  the 
commission  as  aide-de-camp. 

112 


THE    GOLD-FISHERS 

"I understand  what  yon  mean,  too/'  said  the  Count- 
ess  without  looking  up ;  "  it  isn't  a  diplomatic  secret, 
I  hope." 

"I  do  so  wish  to  hear  diplomatic  secrets,"  cried 
Mademoiselle  Bettina,  with  an  enfranchised  school 
girl's  appetite  for  actualities. 

"  Come  then,  I'll  tell  you  hundreds,"  laughed  the 
Duchess,  encircling  the  young  girl's  waist  with  her  left 
arm,  and  nodding  brightly  to  me  as  she  turned  away. 

' '  Do  you  wish  me  to  come  ?"  asked  the  Countess, 
dropping  her  bent  pin  into  the  water. 

"I  don't  know,"  said  the  Duchess,  colouring  a 
little;  "I  thought — in  case  you  were  not  coming — 
Bettina  and  I  would  take  a  dog-cart  and  drive  to  the 
chase." 

"  And  bring  the  Duke  back  with  you  ?"  asked  the 
Countess,  carelessly. 

"If  he  has  finished  shooting,"  said  the  Duchess. 
Two  rose  spots  glowed  in  her  cheeks ;  she  spoke  in 
differently;  yet  for  a  moment  I  saw  in  her  blue  eyes  the 
shadow  of  a  sorrow  too  hopeless  for  such  young  eyes. 

So  she  went  away  over  the  grass,  her  arm  clasping 
the  sashed  waist  of  the  enthusiastic  convent  maid ; 
and  they  entered  the  north  colonnade  where  footmen 
and  flunkies  stood  in  a  stiff  row,  awaiting  the  behest 
of  her  Highness. 

"Prince  Edric's  apartments  are  in  the  east  wing," 
observed  the  Countess  Amyce,  without  looking  up. 

The  dismissal  was  certainly  abrupt ;  I  said  what  I 
should  have  said,  a  trifle  stiffly  perhaps,  and  turned 
towards  the  east  wing. 

"I  don't^believe  he's  awake,"  said  the  Countess,  ap 
parently  to  herself. 

H  113 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

I  hesitated. 

"  So  you'll  have  to  awaken  him/'  she  observed. 

I  moved  on. 

"  Unless — "  she  continued. 

I  stopped. 

"He's  already  awake,"  she  added,  maliciously. 

I  grew  unpleasantly  warm  to  the  ears,  perfectly  con 
scious  that  I  had  been  made  ridiculous. 

"  Sometimes  those  who  are  awake  need  rousing 
most,"  I  said,  quietly. 

She  looked  up  with  an  innocent  air  of  wonder. 

"How  quaint.  It's  an  Eastern  proverb,  isn't  it, 
Lieutenant  Hardy  ?"  she  asked,  moving  her  line  gently 
to  and  fro  in  the  limpid  water. 

I  fairly  ground  my  teeth. 

"Suppose,"  she  said,  after  a  moment's  thought, 
"that  I  should  ask  you  a  favour;  what  would  you 
think  ?" 

"May  I  hope  for  such  fortune  ?"  I  replied,  quickly, 
forgetting  my  resentment. 

Her  dark  eyes  rested  on  me;  then  she  lowered  them, 
saying  : 

"  Fortune  is  a  slave  to  the  wise  and  a  master  to  the 
stupid." 

"  But  a  man  once  planted  pebbles  and  raised  roses," 
I  said,  laughing. 

She  nodded  gravely:  "And  pricked  his  fingers  with 
the  thorns.  I  have  heard  about  that  man." 

She  lifted  her  hook  from  the  water ;  the  bread 
crumb  had  been  nibbled  off.  She  permitted  me  to 
rebait  the  pin ;  I  moulded  the  crumb  on  firmly  and 
lowered  it  again  into  the  water,  offering  her  the 
string. 

114 


THE    GOLD-FISHERS 

"You  may  fish/7  she  said;  "yon  are  so  wise  and 
full  of  proverbs  about  fortune.  Has  fortune  been  so 
kind  that  you  celebrate  her  in  proverbs  ?" 

16  Fortune  is  like  one's  sweetheart ;  if  you  neglect 
her  to-day,  do  not  expect  her  to  be  kind  to-morrow." 

"  What  constancy  \"  she  said,  apparently  lost  in  ad 
miration.  "  I  could  never  be  fortunate." 

At  that  moment  I  caught  a  goldfish,  lifted  it,  squirm 
ing,  and  dropped  it  into  the  other  fountain. 

"  Let  me  —  now  !"  she  said,  capriciously,  taking 
hook  and  line  and  holding  out  the  pin  to  be  redeco 
rated.  My  hand  brushed  the  tips  of  her  gloved  fingers. 

We  stood  there  quite  silently,  intent  on  her  still 
line,  watching  the  plump,  lazy  goldfish  nibble  dis 
creetly,  and  then  wiggle  away  among  the  lotus  stems. 

"  The  favour  I  ask,"  she  said,  abruptly,  "  is  not  a 
personal  one." 

"  It  is  to  me — because  you  ask  it,"  I  said. 

Perhaps  this  displeased  her  ;  I  don't  know.  At  all 
events  she  remained  silent  so  long  that  I  began  to  feel 
uncomfortable.  And  I  have  no  doubt  she  knew  it. 

Once  or  twice  we  nearly  caught  a  goldfish,  but  both 
times  the  bread  came  off  and  I  drew  up  the  pin  and 
repaired  damages. 

"  I  suppose,"  she  said,  at  last,  "  that  you  have  heard 
rumours  of  a  slight  estrangement  between  the  Duke 
and  the  Duchess  of  Luxembourg.  I  speak  of  this  be 
cause  you  are  soon  to  be  his  Highnesses  confidant  and 
aide-de-camp." 

"Yes,"  I  said,  simply;  "I  have  heard  of  it." 

"  From  whom  ?" 

"  I  don't  remember." 

She  smiled,  with  a  little  gesture  of  approval. 
115 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"  That  is  delightful !  A  man  who  doesn't  remem 
ber  has  a  career  before  him  I" 

"  Discretion  is  the  alphabet  of  diplomacy/'  I  said, 
much  pleased  with  myself.  Why  on  earth  is  it  a  man 
always  prides  himself  on  the  quality  he  does  not 
possess  ! 

e '  Yes,  discretion  is  the  first  law  of  success,"  said  the 
Countess,  gravely.  "It  was  discreet  of  you,  for  ex 
ample,  to  say  that  you  had  heard  of  trouble  between 
the  Duke  and  the  Duchess." 

I  turned  red  and  set  my  teeth.  This  was  simply 
intolerable  ;  I  had  been  flouted  to  my  face  with  a  ridi 
cule  impossible  to  resent  openly. 

"  It  is  this  nice  balance  between  justifiable  dis 
cretion  and  useless  secretiveness  that  inspires  a 
woman's  confidence,"  she  continued,  thoughtfully. 

My  face  was  burning ;  nevertheless  I  looked  at  her 
steadily  and  said  : 

"  If  I  am  unsuspicious  of  others,  it  is  perhaps  be 
cause  I  am  not  inquisitive.  I  see  no  reason  to  conceal 
from  you  that  I  have  heard  it  said  the  Duke  and  the 
Duchess  misunderstand  each  other." 

"  That  is  exactly  it,"  she  said,  quickly  ;  "  they  do 
misunderstand  each  other.  And  I  am  going  to  ask 
you  to  watch  every  chance  to  influence  the  Duke. 
Yon  can  do  it ;  I  knew  it  as  soon  as  I  saw  you.  You 
are  the  kind  of  man  he  likes — men  who  are  human 
and  unspoiled — men  who  can  spend  all  day  prowling 
over  malarial  marshes  after  snipe — men  whose  house 
hold  gods  are  bit  and  spur — men  who  have  likes  and 
dislikes,  and  whose  hearts  are  open  pages  for  all  who 
choose  to  read." 

"In  other  words,  a  tactless,  well-meaning  idiot !"  I 
116 


THE    GOLD-FISHERS 

said,  stung  to  the  quick.     "  Doubtless  I  will  suit  his 
Highness  to  a  T." 

"  You  are  very  sensitive,"  she  said,  flushing.  "You 
don't  understand  the  compliment  I  pay  you.  Women 
find  men  who  are  adepts  in  that  woman's  weapon, 
diplomacy,  a  trifle  unsexed  and  unworthy." 

It  was  wonderful  how  her  words  could  alternately 
sting  and  soothe.  Again  my  resentment  vanished, 
and  I  promised  her  that  whatever  I  could  do,  if  an 
occasion  offered,  I  would  do  to  influence  the  Duke  as 
she  desired. 

"He  is  so  young — about  your  age" — she  said; 
"he  is  obstinate  and  tactless  and  horribly  sensitive, 
although,  like  most  sensitive  men,  he  has  hidden  a 
finer  nature  under  a  selfish  materialism.  He  seeks 
his  pleasure  in  his  hounds  and  wolf -drives,  when,  if 
he  dared  acknowledge  it  to  himself,  he'd  give  the  head 
off  his  shoulders  to  be  with  his  wife." 

The  delicate  colour  in  her  cheeks  deepened  ;  earnest 
ness  and  animation  filled  her  eyes,  and  her  voice,  too, 
with  a  sweetness  irresistible. 

"  I  say  this  to  you,"  she  said,  "because  you  are  the 
man  to  say  it  to.  I  knew  it  when  I  saw  you  yester 
day.  I  am  so  glad  you  are  to  be  his  aide-de-camp.  If 
you  reform  the  Duke  as  well  as  I  know  you  can  re 
form  the  army,  you  may  ask  for  what  you  will." 

"From  you  ?"  I  said,  smiling. 

"Oh,  I  am  only  Countess  of  Wilverwiltz,"  she  re 
plied,  carelessly;  "the  Duke  confers  honours." 

"  There  are  honours,"  said  I,  lightly,  "worth  striving 
for — I  have  already  received  two,  unmerited." 

"  And  what  may  those  honours  be  ?"  she  asked,  her 
eyes  very  bright. 

117 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"  The  honour  of  your  confidence— the  honour  of  re 
ceiving  your  commands/'  I  said,  looking  into  her  eyes. 

She  stood  silent  with  that  indefinite  smile  hover 
ing  near  her  parted  lips. 

"  I  am  convinced  you  mean  what  you  say,"  she 
said  ;  "  it  was  gallantly  spoken  for  a  courtier — it  is 
the  more  to  be  prized  from  a  soldier." 

Then,  with  a  return  to  the  faintest  mockery  : 

"Sincerity  is  so  strange  a  visitor  —  one  scarcely 
knows  how  to  value  it  in  these  brilliant  days  of  truth's 
decadence." 

"  I  have  noticed  no  decadence  where  I  come  from," 
said  I. 

"There!"  she  exclaimed,  laughing,  "I  knew  you 
were  a  celestial  visitor  —  an  angel  of  grace ;  and  I'm 
quite  prepared  to  believe  that  heaven  is  all  you  say  it 
is  !  Be  an  archangel  of  common-sense  to  the  Duke, 
make  him  new  regiments,  buy  him  new  cannon,  and 
teach  him  that  the  Duchess  is  a  mistress  worth  the 
adoration  of  a  lover — a  wife  worth  the  confidence  of  a 
husband." 

"  And  keep  Prince  Edric  away,"  I  observed,  care 
lessly. 

Taken  by  surprise  she  betrayed  herself,  and  the 
next  moment  was  furious  for  having  done  so.  But  she 
was  not  foolish  enough  to  attempt  evasion,  although 
even  as  she  spoke  I  saw  that  the  wonder  had  not  died 
out  in  her  eyes — the  utter  amazement  that  I  should 
suspect  anything  concerning  the  Prince. 

"  Yes,  and  keep  Prince  Edric  away,"  she  said,  slow 
ly  ;  "I  don't  understand  how  you  know  what  you  ap 
pear  to  know,  but  it  is  evident  you  are  well  informed." 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  "  I  am  well  informed." 
118 


THE    GOLD-FISHERS 

I  placed  one  foot  on  the  stone  curb  of  the  fountain 
and,  resting  my  elbow  on  my  knee,  looked  down  at  the 
goldfish.  She  also  bent  over  the  water  ;  our  reflected 
eyes  met  in  the  pool ;  then  she  looked  away. 

"  What  do  you  know  ?"  she  asked,  presently. 

"  This,"  I  answered  :  "that  the  Prince  is  in  love — 
but  not  with  the  Duchess.  If  she  for  a  moment  sup 
poses  herself  in  love  with  him — and  it  is  dangerous  for 
a  young  wife  to  suffer  a  husband's  neglect  too  long — 
she  will  learn  very  quickly  that  Prince  Edric  never  had 
the  faintest  spark  of  that  sort  of  love  for  her.  This 
is  brutal  to  say,  but  it  is  the  truth." 

"  Yet  he  came  here — for  her  sake,"  said  the  Count 
ess,  quietly. 

"No.     He  came  for  another's  sake." 

"  The  old  story  of  the  peasant  girl  ?"  she  said,  scorn 
fully. 

"  Yes,  the  old  story  of  the  peasant  girl — the  old,  old 
story — Love." 

The  Countess  laughed  a  little  laugh  that  said  :  "  Oh 
you  are  so  young — so  distressingly  naive." 

"  No,"  said  I,  "  it  is  you  who  are  deceived  this  time. 
I  affirm  it  on  my  honour  as  a  soldier — I  affirm  it  on 
my  honour  as  the  man  who  has  been  doubly  honoured 
with  your  confidence  and  commands.  The  Prince 
has  never  dreamed  of  such  a  thing." 

"  And  suppose  I  should  affirm  that  he  had  declared 
his  love  for  the  Duchess,"  said  she  ;  and  again  the  car 
mine  stained  her  cheeks  and  her  eyes  grew  brighter. 

"  Listen,"  I  said,  speaking  distinctly  yet  almost  in- 
audibly  :  "  You,  Madame  la  Comtesse,  are  generous, 
impulsive,  fearless,  and — a  little  fond  of  the  excite 
ment  of  mischief — " 

119 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"  What !"  she  cried. 

f(  I  beg  yon  to  listen — I  beg  yon  not  be  offended. 
This  is  too  important,  and  I  must  say  what  I  have  to 
say." 

"  With  all  the  tact  natnral  to  you/'  she  replied.  "I 
beg  your  pardon." 

"  Tact  or  no  tact,"  I  said,  "  it  is  better  for  me  to 
go  on.  And  I  wish  merely  to  put  a  hypothetical  ques 
tion  :  Suppose  that  your  dearest  desire  was  to  recon 
cile  a  young  wife  and  her  husband  ;  suppose  that 
young  wife,  stung  by  neglect,  tortured  with  misunder 
standing,  tried  to  find  relief  in  making  herself  believe 
she  could  become  interested  in  another  man.  Sup 
pose  that  other  man  appeared  in  the  vicinity  and  was 
thrown  into  prison — " 

"  Prison  \"  echoed  the  Countess,  nervously. 

"  Suppose  the  young  wife  went  to  him  in  pris 
on—" 

"  She  did  not !"  cried  the  Countess,  crimson  and 
pale  by  turns. 

"Went  to  him,"  I  continued,  serenely,  "and  con 
fessed  she  loved  him  and  gave  him  a  ring — " 

"  This  is  ignoble  !"  said  the  Countess,  with  uncon 
cealed  passion  and  wrath  flashing  from  her  dark  eyes. 
"  If  Prince  Edric  told  you  this-—" 

"He  did  not!" 

"  Who  did  ?" 

"Listen,"  I  said,  almost  impatiently:  "I  am  pre 
senting  an  hypothesis.  But  there  is  a  better  hypothe 
sis  than  that  and  it's  this  :  Suppose  the  young  wife's 
friend — you,  for  example— knowing  that  the  man  was 
in  prison,  should  take  it  upon  yourself  to  go  and  see 
him  ?" 

120 


THE    GOLD-FISHERS 

The  Countess,  pale  and  breathless,  stood  motionless, 
staring  at  me,  her  hand  clinched  and  pressed  tightly 
to  her  hip. 

"  Suppose/'  I  went  on,  "  that — you,  for  example — 
but  only  for  example — believed  that  the  Prince  might 
return  after  his  release  and  that  the  young  wife  might 
again  be  in  danger.  And  suppose  you,  believing  this, 
decided  to  assume  the  character  of  the  young  wife  and 
impose  on  jailer  and  prisoner.  And  suppose  you,  for 
the  sake  of  the  young  wife,  permitted  the  prisoner  to 
believe  you  loved  him  and  then  appealed  to  him  as  a 
man  of  honour  never  to  see  you  again." 

"Yes,"  said  the  Countess,  in  a  clear,  low  voice,  "I 
did  this  thing." 

"  I  know  you  did,"  I  said,  "  and  that  is  not  all. 
Because  you  are  generous  and  loyal  you  went  there ; 
because  you  are  young  and  daring  you  enjoyed  it ;  be 
cause  you  love  mischief  and  are  a  consummate  actress 
you  produced  a  scene  that  was  a  masterpiece.  By 
your  cleverness  you  apparently  made  it  impossible  for 
an  honourable  Prince  to  return  to  the  Duchess ;  by 
your  daring  and  exquisite  appreciation  of  mischief 
you  punished  him  for  his  apparent  presumption. 
You  did  missionary  work  and  did  it  so  that  it  was 
palatable  to  yourself." 

Trembling  with  anger,  the  Countess  faced  me. 

"  If  Prince  Edric  thought  I  was  the  Duchess — and 
told  you,  he  is  a  scoundrel !  If  Prince  Edric  knew 
me  through  my  disguise  and  paid  me  in  my  own  coin, 
he  is  clever.  But  if  he  told  you  what  you  know,  he  is 
a  dishonourable  man  !" 

I  said  :  ' '  Will  you  accept  my  word  of  honour  ?" 

She  waited  a  moment,  then  nodded. 
121 


TtlE    CONSPIRATORS 

"  Then  I  say  to  you  that  Prince  Edric  did  not  tell 
me." 

"  Who  told  you  ?"  she  asked,  steadily.     "  Giroux  ?" 

"  Giroux  thought  you  were  the  Duchess  ;  you  know 

he  did.     Not  only  was  he  certain  that  you  were  the 

Duchess,  but  he  believed  absolutely  that  his  prisoner 

was  Prince  Edric." 

"What  do  you  mean  ?"  whispered  the  Countess,  eyes 
round  with  horror. 

' '  I  mean  that  the  prisoner  was  not  Prince  Edric  ;  I 
mean  that  Prince  Edric  has  no  idea  that  you  or  the 
Duchess  ever  entered  that  prison." 

I  thought  for  a  moment  she  would  faint ;  her  pallor 
was  frightful,  but  she  steadied  herself  and  swallowed 
desperately. 

"  So,"  I  said,  "  you  see  that  Prince  Edric  does  not 
love  the  Duchess,  nor  does  he  dream  that  she  thinks 
she  cares  for  him.  There  is  nothing  to  fear  from  him  ; 
he  is  absorbed  in  his  own  affairs.  As  for  me,  I  will 
loyally  second  your  efforts  to  bring  husband  and  wife 
together ;  and  if  God  wills  it,  it  shall  be  done." 

I  bowed  very  carefully  and  stepped  back  a  pace  or 
two.  The  utter  misery  in  her  lovely  face  sent  a  thrill 
of  remorse  through  me  ;  I  would  have  given  my  right 
hand  if  I  had  not  kissed  her  in  prison — I'd  have  given 
my  head  before  I  would  have  lost  the  memory  of  that 
kiss — or  the  chance  to  punish  her. 

"  Who  was — was  the — the  prisoner  ?"  she  stam 
mered.  "He  told  you  this  ;  he  is  a  scoundrel  !" 

"I'm  afraid  he  is,"  I  said,  remorsefully;  "but  I 
promise  you  that  he  will  never  tell  another  soul.  And 
you  know  I  keep  my  word." 

For  a  full  minute  she  leaned  against  the  fountain- 
122 


THE    GOLD-FISHERS 

rim,  looking  at  me.  Then  a  terrible  light  flashed  up 
in  her  eyes  ;  she  faced  me  swiftly,  so  close  that  I 
breathed  the  snbtle  perfume  of  her  hair. 

"It  was  you — in  the  prison" — she  panted — "you 
coward  !" 

At  the  word  I  simply  turned  cold  to  the  tips  of  my 
fingers.  When  I  could  speak  I  said,  slowly : 

"  That  is  not  the  word  to  use,  Madame  la  Comtesse." 
I  added,  my  anger  scarcely  under  control :  "  You  may 
thank  yourself  for  what  occurred  !" 

"For  what  occurred?"  she  said,  in  a  white-heat; 
"you  shall  pay  dearly,  monsieur." 

"  I  have  paid  dearly  already,"  I  said,  soberly  ;  for 
the  hate  in  her  eyes  hurt  me  as  nothing  had  ever 
hurt.  "My  bitter  punishment  is  your  anger;  your 
punishment  is  far  lighter — it  is  self-reproach — and  I 
do  not  think  you  will  be  too  hard  on  the  Countess  of 
Wilverwiltz." 

Troubled,  irresolute,  I  began  to  pace  the  green 
sward  ;  she  stood  as  though  changed  to  stone,  but  her 
beautiful  angry  eyes  followed  me  as  I  turned,  retraced 
my  steps,  and  turned  again. 

At  last  I  resolutely  came  back  to  the  fountain  and 
told  her  as  simply  as  I  could  how  sorry  I  was,  how  I  re 
gretted  the  folly  that  drove  me  to  mischief,  how  hope 
less  I  felt  that  she  might  ever  come  to  forgive  me. 

And  even  as  I  spoke  I  could  not  help  but  remember 
the  touch  of  my  lips  on  her  hair ;  and  perhaps  she 
divined  that  I  could  not  regret  all,  for  the  red  blood 
mantled  her  face  and  neck,  and  there  was  no  mercy  in 
her  eyes.  But  her  voice  was  like  velvet  when  she 
said : 

"The  world,  monsieur,  is  very  small.  Pray  you 
123 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

keep  as  far  away  from  me  as  God's  measurements  per 
mit." 

"  Nevertheless,"  I  thought,  angrily,  as  I  walked  away 
toward  the  eastern  colonnade,  "  I  shall  neither  leave 
Luxembourg  nor  renounce  the  beginning  of  my  career 
for  you  1" 


CHAPTER  XIII 
HIS  EXCELLENCY  RETURN'S 

In  which  two  young  men  insist  that  there  is  no  more  balm  in 
Oilead  ;  and  a  woman  declares  war 

"  THERE  is  no  balm  in  Gilead  !" 

We  pass  the  first  part  of  life  in  desiring  the  second ; 
the  second  in  regretting  the  first ;  the  third  in  long 
ing  for  immortality  :  "  God  knows  what  well  want 
after  that  \"  said  I  to  myself.  "  There  is  no  such  thing 
as  being  satisfied/' 

It  was  clear  that  I  was  not  satisfied. 

"Do  I  care  whether. a  silly  young  girl  finds  me  de 
testable  or  delectable  ?"  said  I  to  myself. 

Nobody  replied.     It  is  true  I  was  alone. 

' '  Is  there  such  a  thing  as  satisfaction  in  existence  ?" 
I  asked  myself,  irritably.  "  Even  celestial  conditions 
are  mirages ;  '  Heaven,  the  vision  of  fulfilled  de 
sire'—  » 

By  this  time  I  was  climbing  the  curved  marble  stair 
way  in  that  section  of  the  Hotel  de  la  Maison  Koyale 
that  lay  directly  over  the  east  colonnade.  At  the  head 
of  the  stairs  stalked  a  filigreed  flunky  who  proved 
docile  enough  to  announce  me  ;  and  presently  another 
servant,  who  apparently  served  the  Prince  as  valet, 
ushered  me  into  an  exceedingly  rococo  morning-room, 
full  of  sunshine  and  the  odour  of  Flemish  tobacco. 
Prince  Edric,  swathed  in  a  kimona,  his  head  tied  up  in 

125 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

bandages,  sat  by  the  bay-window  rocking  vigorously 
in  an  American  rocking-chair. 

' '  Hello  !"  he  cried,  "  have  yon  a  decent  cigar  ?" 

"  Hello  !"  I  said,  much  amused  ;  "  Fve  a  case  full." 

"This  is  delightful!"  he  rattled  on  in  that  same 
eager,  boyish  voice.  "  I'm  half  crazy  with  ennui  and 
rocking-chairs  —  one  of  your  insidious  Yankee  inven 
tions.  You  sit  in  it  and  it  rocks  —  then  you  rock  it 
yourself — then  you  get  tired  of  it,  but  it  has  some 
damnable  infatuation  for  you  that  keeps  you  rocking 
until  you're  ready  to  smash  it.  But  you  don't ;  you 
keep  on  rocking  I" 

I  was  as  glad  to  see  him  as  he  was  to  see  me  ;  I  felt 
that  warmth  of  comradeship,  that  subtle  sympathy 
that  must  be  mutual  to  exist  at  all.  And  straight 
way  we  began  chatting  like  old  friends  long  parted. 

"That  whack  on  my  head  hurt  like  the  devil  last 
night,"  he  observed  ;  "  but  to-day  it's  healing ;  want 
to  see  it  ?" 

I  examined  it,  re-dressed  the  wound,  and  prepared 
him  a  long  glass  of  Rhine-wine  and  Schwepps,  for  he 
still  felt  a  trifle  feverish.  Incidentally,  I  made  a  sim 
ilar  cooling  draught  for  myself. 

"Can't  stand  this  hospital  atmosphere,"  he  said, 
drinking  deeply  and  touching  his  mustache  with  his 
handkerchief;  "I'm  going  out  to-morrow  —  I've  got 
to  go—  " 

"No,  you  haven't,"  I  said;  "I'll  do  whatever  is 
necessary." 

"  You  can't,"  he  rejoined,  faintly  amused — "  not  in 
this  case." 

His  face  had  changed  ;  again  that  careworn  shadow 
fell  deeply  under  his  handsome  eyes. 

126 


HIS    EXCELLENCY    RETURNS 

"  What  a  worry  life  is,"  he  said,  petulantly  ;  "  boy 
hood  is  the  happiest  time." 

"  It's  a  pity  we  have  to  become  men  before  we  know 
it/'  I  added. 

"'Le  vieillard  est  nn  homme  qni  a  dine  et  qui  re- 
garde  les  autres  manger/  "  he  quoted,  gloomily.  "  I'm 
getting  on  in  years." 

"  What's  the  matter  ?"  I  asked.  "  Don't  tell  unless 
it  will  do  you  good." 

"  Oh,  I  want  to  tell,"  he  replied,  laughing,  yet  a  lit 
tle  vexed  at  his  unconcealed  necessity  for  a  confidant. 
(i  I'm  awfully  tired  of  dining  on  my  own  misery.  Do 
you  mind  ?  It's  a  woman,  of  course." 

Perhaps  I  should  have  discouraged  confidence  un 
der  other  conditions.  A  healthy  minded  man  seldom 
sympathises  intelligently  with  a  love -sick  comrade. 
But  the  episode  by  the  fountain  had  worked  in  me  a 
fresh-water  "change  into  something  rich  and  strange" 
— what,  I  no  more  suspected  than  Bottom  suspected 
his  ass's  ears.  I  merely  knew  I  was  miserable  myself, 
and,  desiring  company,  I  said  : 

"  Go  ahead." 

He  tied  the  tassels  on  his  bath-robe  tighter,  rocked 
solemnly,  stopped,  rocked  again,  sighed,  and  continued 
rocking  as  he  spoke. 

"  It's  this  :  there's  no  use  in  blinding  myself  any 
longer  ;  I'm  hopelessly  in  love  with  a  young  girl  whom 
I  never  saw  but  once  in  my  life,  and  unless  I  marry 
her  I  don't  want  to  live  !" 

"  The  forester's  niece  ?"  I  asked. 

"Yes — and  no.  She  was  not  the  forester's  niece; 
that's  the  puzzling  part  of  it,  for  the  Duchess  told  me 
this  morning  that  the  late  head  forester  had  no  niece. 

127 


THE    CONSPIRATORS, 

Yet  he  certainly  told  me  at  the  time  that  she  was  a 
niece  or  something  of  his  or  somebody's." 

"  Can't  you  find  her  ?"  I  asked,  curiously. 

"No,  I  can't.  How  am  I  going  to  when  I  don't 
know  her  name  ?  At  least,  I  believe  that  her  first  name 
is  Helma ;  but  that  doesn't  count  because  it  was 
merely  a  baby  name,  she  said." 

"  Oh,  she  said  so  ?" 

"  Yes.  She  wouldn't  tell  me  any  more.  She 
laughed  at  me  in  the  prettiest,  shyest  way — only  I  felt 
at  times  that  she  was  enjoying  something  or  other  at 
my  expense.  I  don't  believe  she  spoke  a  dozen  words 
to  me,  all  told." 

"  Did  you  tell  her  or  the  head  forester  who  you 
were  ?"  I  asked,  much  interested. 

"  No  ;  I  called  myself  Von  Elbe — it's  a  family  name. 
Then  I  went  away,  after  giving  her  the  ring." 

"  But  next  day — didn't  you  go  back  ?" 

"No,  confound  it  !  I  left  Luxembourg  an  hour 
later.  You  know  there  was  some  talk  of  my  be 
trothal  to  the  Queen  of  Holland  ?  She  came  to  Wil- 
verwiltz  with  the  Queen  Regent  that  very  morning — 
poor  little  innocent,  ignorant  that  our  gracious  Em 
peror  had  decided  to  mate  us,  as  you  and  I  mate 
pigeons  !  So  when  I  learned  that  the  little  Queen  had 
arrived  to  be  exhibited  with  me  I  took  pity  on  her 
first,  and  I  took  pity  on  myself  next,  and  then  I  took 
<  the  key  of  the  fields.'" 

"You  ran  away  ?"  I  exclaimed,  delightedly. 

"I  ran  away — from  "Wilverwiltz  the  very  day  that 
her  petite  Majesty  arrived.  I  never  saw  her ;  she  never 
saw  me.  But  when  she  learned  the  Emperor's  plans 
she  snubbed  us  all  around — and  here's  to  her !  Prosit !" 

128 


HIS    EXCELLENCY    RETURNS 

We  emptied  onr  glasses  to  the  youthful  Queen  of 
Holland. 

Edric  began  to  rock  again,  staring  absently  at  the 
sunny  window-curtains. 

"You  see,"  he  said,  "I  can't  waste  time  nursing  a 
damaged  noddle ;  I  must  get  out,  I  must  try  to  find 
her.  Hardy,  I  simply  can't  be  happy  without  her." 
He  pointed  at  the  wall  where  he  had  carefully  nailed 
a  group  of  a  dozen  photographs — the  photographs  I 
had  seen  him  buy — all  pictures  of  the  lovely  little 
Queen  of  Holland. 

6 '  They  remind  me  of  her,"  he  said,  looking  some 
what  silly,  as  men  always  do  under  such  circumstances. 
"  But  she  was  much  more  beautiful,"  he  added. 

"  Love  is  like  a  climbing  rose-vine  ;  the  more  you 
check  it,  the  faster  it  grows,"  I  said,  trying  not  to  speak 
sentimentally. 

Edric  looked  up. 

"  Now  don't  tell  me  you  are  in  love  !"  he  cried 
— "you,  the  prudent,  the  cool,  the  practical — " 

"  In  love  !"  I  retorted,  startled.    "  Pooh  !" 

Edric  regarded  me  with  a  mocking  smile ;  then  he 
hummed  aloud  a  couplet  that  certainly  had  no  mean 
ing  for  me : 

"Ne  cherchons  point  un  vain  detour 

Pour  excuser  notre  faiblesse ; 
Les  premiers  soupirs  de  1'amour 
Sont  les  derniers  de  la  sagesse  !" 

An  hour  later  I  left  him,  promising  to  call  again 

next  day ;  and,  as  I  descended  the  marble  stairway 

and  traversed  the  deserted  court,  I  glanced  wistfully 

at  the  two  splashing  fountains.     The  silence  was  ac- 

i  129 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

centuated  by  the  mellow  echoes  of  falling  water ; 
nothing  of  life  remained  there  save  two  dusty  little 
sparrows,  demurely  drinking,  side  by  side,  at  the  foun 
tain-rim. 

"  They  are  on  better  terms  than  the  Countess  and 
I,"  said  I  to  myself,  with  needless  bitterness;  for  what 
did  I  care  ? 

When  I  reached  the  Legation  and  went  up-stairs  to 
my  apartments  I  found  the  Duke's  tailor  in  the  ante 
room.  It  depressed  me. 

The  process  of  being  measured  for  anything  is 
maddening.  Add  to  this  the  presence  of  a  servile 
tailor,  who  skipped  when  spoken  to  and  lisped  in 
Teutonic  French,  and  the  result  is  enough  to  upset 
Patience — and  her  pedestal  into  the  bargain. 

At  last  he  skipped  roguishly  away,  leaving  me  in  a 
mood  for  crime. 

"  Oh,  how  beautiful  you  will  be  !"  said  Osborne, 
looking  in  at  the  door.  "  My !  my  !  all  gold  and  feath 
ers  and  precious  stones  and  pearls  of  wisdom  !  A  per 
fect  aide-de-camp  !" 

"Come,  Victor/'  I  said,  wearily,  "let  me  alone  or 
there'll  be  a  vacancy  in  the  diplomatic  service." 

He  noticed  I  was  out  of  humour. 

"See  the  Countess?"  he  inquired,  sympathet 
ically. 

"  None  of  your  business/7  I  answered,  more  in  anger 
than  in  sorrow. 

"  I  told  you  so/'  he  said  ;  "  I  told  you  what  she  did 
to  nice  young  men.  Now,  next  week  you'll  prudently 
fall  in  love  with  the  Duchess.  We  all  do." 

"  Did  I  say  that  I  was  in  love  with  the  Countess  ?" 
I  asked,  indignantly. 

130 


HIS    EXCELLENCY    RETURNS 

"No — yon  didn't  sa-y  so/' replied  Osborne,  with  an 
irritating  drawl. 

I  threw  myself  on  the  bed  and  pretended  to  yawn. 

"  Mad  ?"  inquired  Osborne,  in  a  mincing  voice  that 
roused  me  to  fury. 

He  patiently  dodged  both  pillows,  ducked  at  a  hair 
brush,  and,  placing  his  eyes  at  the  door-crack,  ob 
served  me  fondly. 

"  We're  all  like  that  at  first,"  he  said.  "  Symptoms  : 
hot  head,  sick  feeling  in  cardiac  muscles,  peevishness, 
and  a  desire  for  assassination." 

I  had  to  laugh. 

"Hysteria,  too,"  he  murmured ;  "crisis  rapidly  ap 
proaching.  Remedy:  a  teaspoonful  of  philosophy  in 
a  pint  of  the  milk  of  human  kindness." 

"  Don't,  Victor,"  I  said  ;  "  I'm  not  in  the  humour 
for  it." 

He  came  in  and  sat  down  on  the  edge  of  the  bed  be 
side  me. 

"  Seriously,"  he  said,  "  don't  let  that  little  Countess 
double  you  up,  Gilbert.  She's  absolutely  cold  and 
heartless  as  far  as  that  sort  of  thing  goes.  She's 
played  the  mischief  with  everybody  in  Luxem 
bourg." 

"Yon  don't  fancy  I'm  in  love  with  the  Countess  of 
Wilverwiltz,  do  you  ?"  I  asked,  weakly. 

"  I  don't  know  ;  are  yon  ?"  he  demanded. 

I  said  "  Pooh  !" — a  favourite  expression  of  mine 
when  I  wished  to  compromise  with  truth.  A  moment 
later,  realising  what  "pooh"  meant  in  my  vocabulary, 
I  started  to  add  something  else.  But  all  I  could 
think  of  was  "bosh." 

"  Am  I  in  love  ?"  I  asked  myself,  incredulously.  In- 
131 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

stead  of  a  strong,  vigorous  mental  denial,  my  vacillat 
ing  will  conjured  up  a  single  word,  ' '  Pooli  I" 

"  Anyway,"  I  said,  looking  up  at  Osborne,  "she 
hates  me." 

"  Then  you  are  in  love  ?"  he  reiterated,  unrelent 
ingly. 

"  Yes,  damn  it,  I  am  I"  I  burst  out. 

The  sudden  mental  illumination  was  perhaps  so 
bright  that  it  gave  a  lurid  tinge  to  my  language.  No 
— there  was  no  longer  any  doubt  about  it ;  I  had 
caught  fire  from  her  eyes,  and  the  smouldering  cinder 
flared  up  with  my  wrath  at  Osborne's  chaffing. 

As  for  Osborne,  once  he  saw  how  seriously  I  took  it 
he  became  perfectly  decent  and  unobtrusive.  He 
merely  wished  me  success,  and  said  it  in  a  way  that 
left  a  warm  spot  in  my  heart  for  him  for  all  time. 

I  remember  he  said,  standing  by  the  bed  : 

"  It  is  the  things  one  says  to  a  woman  that  leave  her 
indifferent ;  it  is  the  things  one  leaves  unsaid  that 
make  her  understand  that  she  is  loved.  Go  it,  Saint 
George  !" 

After  he  had  gone  away  it  occurred  to  me  that  his 
dubbing  me  Saint  George  left  an  inference  that  was 
scarcely  flattering  to  the  Countess. 

"It  will  be  a  tougher  battle  than  fighting  dragons/' 
I  said  to  myself. 

Late  that  night  his  Excellency  unexpectedly  re 
turned  from  The  Hague.  Osborne  and  I  were  asleep, 
but  the  racket  the  porters  made  with  his  Excellency's 
luggage  in  the  marble-tiled  hallway  awoke  us  both. 

"It's  the  old  man,"  said  Osborne,  disrespectfully, 
coming  into  my  room  in  pajamas  and  slippers  ;  "he'll 
want  to  see  us,  so  you  might  as  well  get  up." 

132 


HIS    EXCELLENCY    RETURNS 

"  And  dress  ?"  I  asked,  much  annoyed. 

We  found  his  Excellency  in  the  dining-room  apply 
ing  himself  earnestly  to  cold  fowl  and  Rhine  wine. 
He  was,  to  my  horror,  enveloped  in  a  badly  creased 
duster ;  a  travelling-cap  lay  on  the  table  among  the 
wineglasses;  a  Baedeker's  Guide  to  Luxembourg  rested 
beside  it. 

As  I  first  set  eyes  upon  his  Excellency  I  understood 
at  once  that  he  was  not  a  man — he  was  an  institution — 
the  embodiment  of  statesmanship  as  understood  in 
village  stores  ;  the  symbol  of  patriotism  as  worshipped 
in  a  rural  metropolis  ;  the  apostle  of  culture  as  she  is 
taught. 

Osborne  said  that  when  his  white  chop  whiskers 
were  neatly  brushed  forward  he  appeared  very  im 
pressive  ;  at  present  he  resembled  a  hungry  buck- 
rabbit  which  had  been  rained  on. 

He  was  most  civil  to  me — a  trifle  ponderous,  per 
haps,  but  kind.  He  said  he  was  sorry  I  was  not  to 
remain  a  member  of  his  official  family — he  said  it 
with  his  mouth  full  of  chicken. 

Being  above  all  conscientious,  he  spoke  French,  when 
he  could,  because  it  was  the  language  of  diplomacy 
and  he  scorned  to  shirk  it. 

"I've  been  mostly  all  over  ele  continong'  since  I 
saw  you,"  he  explained  to  Osborne ;  "  Paree,  Mu 
nich,  Antwerp,  Rome — fixing  things  up  all  round/' 
Turning  on  me,  he  looked  at  me  through  the 
sides  of  the  goblet  from  which  he  was  drinking, 
dried  his  featureless  mouth,  cleared  his  throat,  and 
said  : 

"  Ever  been  to  Rome  ?" 

I  said  I  had. 

133 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"  See  that  Wolf  with  Romeo  and  Juliette  deriving 
nourishment  ?  Ain't  it  grand  ?" 

"Yes,"  I  said,  gravely,  not  daring  to  look  at 
Osborne. 

"You  remember  the  inscription,  sir?"  said  Os 
borne,  wickedly — "Homo  homini  lupus — what's  born 
of  a  wolf  will  nurse  wolves." 

His  Excellency  nodded  thoughtfully,  as  though 
briefly  reviewing  his  college  days.  It  was  a  shame  to 
chaff  him. 

Yet,  to  look  at  him,  he  appeared  to  be  a  facsimile 
of  the  accepted  type  of  cultivated  colourless  pros 
perity.  His  mouth  was  absolutely  faultless  and  ex 
pressionless,  his  features  regular,  his  head  benign. 

(f  I  guess  I'll  go  to  bed  ;  I've  got  to  see  the  Dook  at 
ten,"  said  his  Excellency. 

We  accompanied  him  to  his  apartments,  where  he 
bade  us  sit  down  until  he  returned  from  his  dressing- 
room. 

I  looked  pathetically  at  Osborne,  who  shrugged  his 
shoulders  and  said  : 

"Don't  be  shocked ;  he's  uncultivated,  if  you  like, 
but  he's  too  kindly  to  be  vulgar,  and  too  upright  to 
be  ignorant.  His  honesty  confuses  the  diplomats ;  he 
is  fearless  and  direct ;  he  says  exactly  what  he  thinks ; 
he  never  lies,  never  flatters,  never  hesitates.  And  the 
root  of  his  success  is  his  sublime  faith  in  the  great 
ness  and  justice  of  the  country  he  represents." 

"  I  wish  he  wouldn't  speak  French,"  I  said. 

te  It  is  not  affectation,  it  is  an  honest  desire  to  shirk 
nothing  that  may  confirm  the  dignity  of  his  position 
and  the  infallibility  of  his  country." 

A  moment  later  his  Excellency  appeared  in  a  long 
134 


HIS    EXCELLENCY    RETURNS 

nightshirt  and  pink  slippers,  a  bottle  in  one  hand,  a 
corkscrew  in  the  other. 

Osborne  uncorked  the  bottle  of  American  Rye ; 
his  Excellency  sat  down,  gravely  acknowledging  our 
raised  glasses ;  then  we  silently  crooked  elbows  and 
took  our  nightcaps  without  a  shudder. 

"  Seen  the  Dook  ?"  asked  his  Excellency,  looking  at 
me  over  his  eye-glasses  and  licking  his  lips. 

I  replied  in  the  negative. 

' '  Been  in  prison,  haven't  you  ?"  he  continued, 
calmly. 

I  turned  crimson  to  the  root  of  every  hair  on  my 
head.  How  on  earth  did  he  know  I  had  been  in 
prison  ?  Osborne  looked  at  me  in  astonishment. 

"  Why  didn't  you  report  to  me,  my  son  ?"  said  his 
Excellency,  kindly. 

te  I  promised  Giroux  not  to,"  I  muttered. 

"  It  ain't  your  dooty  to  make  promises,"  he  said ; 
"you  let  me  judge." 

He  did  not  speak  harshly  ;  he  simply  told  me  that 
he  had  been  informed  about  my  being  mistaken  for 
Prince  Edric,  and  that  my  conduct  in  prison  had 
been  neither  prudent  nor  dignified. 

"A  complaint  came  to  me  concerning  your  be 
haviour,"  he  said.  "  I'm  requested  to  have  the  Gov 
ernment  recall  you,  Hardy." 

"  Recall  me  ?"  I  stammered. 

"But  I  ain't  agoing  to,"  he  continued.  "I  guess 
the  young  lady  got  her  deserts  that  time." 

Mortified  and  miserable,  I  could  not  bear  to  meet 
Osborne's  eyes  ;  I  sat  staring  at  the  carpet,  too  un 
happy  to  even  wonder  at  his  Excellency's  knowledge 
of  my  prison  romance. 

135 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"I  got  the  letter  an  hour  ago,"  he  said.  "  I  guess 
I  needn't  say  who  the  lady  is;  but  she's  mad  clear 
through,  and  wants  you  out  of  the  country." 

So  the  Countess  had  declared  war,  and  hostilities 
had  began  !  And  this  was  the  Countess's  vengeance 
— a  denunciation  that  might  disgrace  me  and  send  me 
where  I  would  never  again  offend  her  eyes,  where  the 
sight  of  me  or  the  mention  of  my  name  would  never 
evoke  the  souvenir  of  her  humiliation. 

"  It  seems,"  continued  his  Excellency,  "  that  she 
went  to  see  another  prisoner.  Who  was  he  ?" 

"You  know,  sir,"  I  replied,  in  a  low  voice. 

"  Yes,  I  guess  I  do — and  I  guess  I  know  why  she 
went,  too.  No  use  in  discussing  that ;  she  told  me 
long  ago  she  meant  to  keep  him  out  of  Luxembourg. 
That  young  man  may  get  us  all  into  trouble.  But  you 
did  quite  right,  Lootenant,  in  claiming  right  of  asy 
lum  in  our  Legation.  C'est  notre  droit,  eh  ?" 

So  he  even  knew  about  the  riot ! 

"Are  they  going  to  extradite  him  ?"  I  asked,  in  alarm. 

"I  guess  not,  Hardy.  The  Emperor  knows  he  can't 
make  omelets  without  breaking  the  eggs.  There's  no 
treaty  between  Prussia  and  Luxembourg  that  covers 
political  offences ;  and  the  United  States  won't  allow 
bullying." 

His  Excellency  rose  ;  Osborne  lighted  the  bedroom 
candles  and  extinguished  the  lamp. 

"  When  you're  aide-de-camp,"  said  his  Excellency, 
winking  at  me,  "you'll  find  it  safer  to  smoke  in  a 
powder-bin  than  to  make  love  to  a  certain  young  lady 
we  know  of." 

I  bade  him  good-night  with  a  heavy  heart,  and  fol 
lowed  Osborne  out. 

136 


HIS    EXCELLENCY    RETURNS 

"  But  who  the  dence  is  the  young  lady  ?"  inquired 
Osborne,  devoured  by  curiosity. 

I  replied  :  "  Go  to  Guinea  !"  and,  entering  my  bed 
room,  double-locked  the  door— as  if  keys  and  bolts 
could  keep  out  care  ! 

They  could  not. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE   FOREST   OF 


Detailing  some  emotions  peculiar  to  the  love-lorn,  and  treating  of 
a  young  man's  relapse  into  tJie  barbarism  of  superstitions 

OK  Monday  I  went  to  Wilverwiltz,  alone,  for  his 
Excellency  was  obliged  to  remain  in  Luxembourg  un 
til  his  note  to  Berlin,  concerning  the  incident  at  the 
Legation,  had  been  answered.  Osborne  remained 
with  his  Excellency,  and  the  callow  personnel  of  the 
Legation,  the  second  secretary,  the  interpreter,  and 
the  non-com,  staff,  of  course  remained  also. 

I  took  with  me  my  six  new  Luxembourg  uni 
forms,  my  United  States  uniforms,  and  all  the  civilian 
clothes  I  possessed,  including  a  serviceable  shooting- 
suit. 

As  I  inspected  my  luggage  piled  up  on  the  station 
platform  I  felt  like  an  entire  theatrical  troupe,  espe 
cially  as  my  banjo  crowned  the  top  of  the  heap  and 
Osborne's  curly  hunting-horn  lay  beside  it. 

The  railway  journey  to  Wilverwiltz  took  three 
hours,  although  it  is  not  more  than  thirty  miles  from 
Luxembourg.  I  wished  it  had  taken  all  day,  for  the 
single  narrow-guage  track  ran  through  a  fairy-land  of 
the  most  captivating  forest  scenery  I  had  ever  looked 
upon.  From  the  open  window  of  my  compartment  I 
breathed  the  incense  of  the  woods,  the  aromatic  spice 
of  evergreens,  the  fresh  exhalation  from  brook  and 

138 


THE    FOREST    OF    ARDEN 

fen,  the  perfume  of  sun-curled  fern.  Where  the  sun 
light  fell  strong  and  hot  the  odour  was  sweetest ;  I 
sniffed  like  a  caged  thing  at  the  free  world.  Hints  of 
ripe  raspberries  in  the  pungent  puffs  of  wind  thrilled 
me  with  that  sudden  home-desire  that  is  not  entirely 
painful.  From  the  slow  train  window  I  could  look 
into  cool  moss-grown  depths  where  every  tree  was  an 
invitation,  every  leaf  a  promise.  The  slow  flowing 
streams  tempted  me  ;  the  sudden  tumbling  rivulets, 
singing  with  foam,  set  my  ears  a-tingle  ;  the  flutter 
and  glance  of  feathered  wings,  the  visions  of  startled 
wild  things,  the  continuous  escort  of  clouds  of  butter 
flies,  and  everywhere  the  blessed  sunshine  and  the 
million  leaves  ! — these  are  my  memories  of  that  morn 
ing  through  the  Ardennes  Forest. 

Nature  never  betrayed  a  heart  that  loved  her ; 
Nature,  "ye  Vicar  of  Almightie  Godde,"  teaches  us 
to  love  our  friends  —  and  were  it  not  for  religion, 
that  teaches  us  to  love  our  enemies,  we  might  not 
know  we  had  any. 

And  the  old  song  came  to  me  : 

"From  Wilverwiltz  to  Wiltz— 

Whenue  skies  be  grey 

And  Maydes  away, 
Godde's  angels  walk  the  woodland 
Until  the  mo  n  the  of  Maye, 

In  happy  holliday. 

"From  Wilverwiltz  to  Wiltz— 
When  skies  be  fayre 
And  Lovers  pair, 
The  deyvil  haunts  the  woodland 
Where  Cupid  sets  hys  snare. 

Pray  Godde  that  we  be  there  !" 
139 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

And  the  quaint  lilt  of  the  chorus,  set  to  the  swing 
of  sounding  hunting-horns  : 

"The  red  deer  sleepeth  deep  at  noon — 

Kneeling  on  velvet  knee  ; 
The  red  deer  wakes  with  the  crescent  moon, 

Seeketh  hys  love  perdie  ! 
The  wild  bee  favours  the  rosemarie 
Doth  the  bud  that  he  savours  close,  Amie  ? 
Douce  Amie  ? 
Halali-i ! 
Halali-i ! 
Pray  you  may  kinder  be  !" 

That  the  lovely  Ardennes  woods  should  make  me 
silly  did  not  surprise  me,  for  "  this  is  the  forest  of 
Arden,"  and  every  wild  rose  breathes  of  a  perfumed 
past  and  every  pebbled  stream  babbles  of  Rosalind. 

If  I  chose  to  be  sentimental,  the  sentiment  was 
healthy ;  everything  here  in  the  forest  was  sweet  and 
real,  and  reeking  of  good  rank  earth.  That  mirage 
city,  with  its  softened  lights  and  shadows,  its  delicate 
tints,  its  quiet,  its,  demi-slumber,  weighed  upon  me  as 
mist  weighs  down  the  sedge-grass  with  a  million  ir- 
ridescent  drops. 

"Thank  Heaven/' said  I  to  myself,  "Fm  out  of 
that  enchanted  cobweb ;"  for,  while  I  remained  in 
Luxembourg  I  had  felt  like  a  fly  in  amber.  "Per 
haps,"  thought  I,  wistfully,  "  the  tonic  of  the  woods 
may  cure  my  fever  too/' 

But  that  fever  was  not  to  be  cured  by  thinking  ;  I 
knew  that. 

I  was  deep  in  a  reverie,  dreaming  of  the  Countess 
of  Wilverwiltz,  when  the  train  whistled,  signalling 
the  distant  station ;  and  my  heart  began  to  beat  out 

140 


THE    FOREST    OF    ARDEN 

the  long-roll,  warning  me  to  arm  for  a  battle  already 
lost. 

"One  battle  does  not  make  a  war/' said  I,  aloud; 
"I'll  call  out  reinforcements."  So  I  drew  a  heavy 
draft  on  my  stock  of  courage  and,  as  the  train  came 
to  a  stand-still,  I  opened  the  compartment  door,  ready 
to  face  the  devil  himself — or  even  the  Countess 
Amyce,  if  necessary. 

There  was  nobody  on  the  station  platform  except  a 
red-capped  official  and  a  groom  in  the  Duke's  livery  of 
light  green  and  gold.  The  former  took  charge  of  my 
luggage  ;  the  latter  conducted  me  to  a  dog-cart  stand 
ing  under  the  trees  behind  the  little  wooden  station. 
So  we  left  the  deserted  station,  I  driving,  the  mute 
groom,  decorous,  spotless  as  a  green  caterpillar,  deco 
rating  the  lower  cushion  beside  me. 

There  was  no  sound  in  the  forest ;  our  wheels  and 
hoofs  made  no  noise  in  the  soft  bark  road.  But  there 
was  movement  everywhere  around  us,  glimpses  of 
disappearing  rabbits,  apparitions  of  startled  deer, 
flocks  of  forest  birds  rising  and  scattering  into  flight 
before  us  as  we  swept  on  through  the  woods  in 
silence. 

Then  all  at  once  the  gray  chateau  appeared  through 
the  larger  trees  on  the  right  and  we  swung  into  a 
broad  macadamised  avenue,  through  the  three  great 
gateways,  and  up  the  oak-bordered  approach  to  a 
lodge  where  some  foresters  lifted  their  felt  hats  as  we 
whirled  by. 

The  Duchess  and  her  young  kinswoman,  Mademoi 
selle  Bettina  d'Yssel,  were  sitting  on  the  flowered  ter 
race  as  I  drove  up.  They  greeted  me  very  prettily 
when  I  advanced  to  pay  my  respects,  regretting  that 

141 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

the  Duke  had  been  called  to  Luxembourg,  but  assur 
ing  me  he  would  return  on  a  special  train  at  two 
o'clock,  and  saying  that  I  was  to  find  fault  with  every 
thing  that  did  not  suit  me  and  have  it  as  I  wanted. 

"  You  see,  monsieur,  how  my  husband  spoils  you," 
she  said  ;  "  but  we  are  not  at  all  metropolitan,  and  we 
are  much  interested  in  our  very  grand  aide-de-camp." 

"  And  so  anxious  to  see  you  discipline  the  soldiers," 
said  Mademoiselle  d'Yssel.  "  When  will  you  begin, 
Monsieur  Hardy  ?" 

"  He  might  begin  by  disciplining  young  ladies  who 
ask  questions,"  said  the  Duchess,  laughing. 

At  her  Highness's  invitation  I  went  away  to  inspect 
my  apartment,  guided  by  a  major-domo  whose  coat- 
tails  hung  heavy  with  bullion.  The  apartments  were 
gorgeous — not  too  gorgeous  for  me,  for  I  liked  mag 
nificence,  and  took  to  it  with  the  naive  gratitude  that 
a  duck  experiences  afloat  on  a  comfortable  pond. 

I  dispensed,  however,  with  a  valet,  who  was  included 
in  the  furnishings  ;  I  never  could  bear  to  have  a  man 
servant  touch  me. 

When  I  had  dressed  and  superintended  the  unpack 
ing,  and  when  my  orderly  had  unfolded  and  hung  up 
my  six  new  uniforms,  I  left  him  to  finish  his  duty, 
and  went  down  to  the  flower-terrace. 

The  Duchess  and  Bettina  d'Yssel  were  on  the  lawn 
below,  finding  much  amusement  in  knocking  golf -balls 
as  far  as  they  could  send  them,  digging  up  the  turf  at 
times,  at  times  swinging  over  impotently,  and  laugh 
ing  so  that  even  the  diminutive  Luxembourg  caddy 
smiled  like  a  discreet  cherub  in  a  Louis  XVI.  wood 
cut. 

They  nodded  merrily  to  me  and  offered  to  teach  me, 
142 


THE    FOREST    OF    ARDEN 

but  there  was  no  time  then,  for  luncheon,  served  un 
der  the  trees,  was  announced  by  a  human  ornament  in 
green  and  gold ;  and  Bettina  was  hungry,  and  said  so. 

It  was  the  simplest  luncheon,  faultlessly  served  by 
more  human  bric-a-brac.  Bettina  ate  everything  and 
drank  very  little  Moselle  and  looked  very  hard  at  the 
champagne.  The  Duchess  ate  nothing.  She  sat 
smiling  at  Bettina's  undisguised  appetite,  her  white 
hands  twisted  over  the  arm  of  her  chair,  the  sun 
streaming  though  the  splendid  ruddy  coils  of  her  hair. 
I  could  understand  how  everybody  fell  in  love  with 
her  ;  she  was  so  sweet,  so  sympathetic,  so  free  from 
the  consciousness  of  a  beauty  that  had  made  her 
famous  over  two  continents. 

"  You  eat  nothing,"  she  said,  looking  up  at  me. 
Perhaps  she  read  in  my  eyes  the  sincere  compliment 
that  my  lips  withheld,  for  she  smiled  and  said  with 
heightened  colour  :  "  My  husband  will  be  very  glad  to 
have  a  companion  who  is  so  fond  of  English  sports  ; 
you  know  he  was  educated  at  Harrow  and  Oxford,  and, 
later,  at  Woolwich/' 

"Do  you  fox-hunt  ?"  asked  Bettina, in  solemn  Eng 
lish,  looking  critically  at  me. 

"  '  Fox '  is  superfluous,  dear,"  said  the  Duchess  ; 
"your  vocabulary  is  not  yet  in  condition  for  the 
Quorn." 

I  observed  the  chagrin  of  Mademoiselle  Bettina 
with  amusement,  saying  that  the  Duchess  knew  more 
about  hunting  than  I  did. 

And  all  the  while,  even  when  fascinated  by  the 
grace  and  beauty  of  the  Duchess  and  the  youthful  in 
nocence  of  Bettina,  I  was  wondering  where  the  Coun 
tess  might  be.  It  came  out  a  little  later. 

143 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"  You  know  Prince  Edric  has  taken  Van  Tassel's 
house  —  our  former  head  forester  ?"  inquired  the 
Duchess. 

"Yes,"  I  said;  "is  it  near?" 

"  It  is  half  a  mile,"  observed  Bettina  ;  "  we  will 
show  it  you  after  luncheon." 

"There,"  continued  the  Duchess,  "he  is  going  to 
live  all  alone.  It  seems  sad  ;  he  is  so  young — to  be 
alone." 

"He  is  going  to  collect  birds  and  insects,  and  I  am 
going  to  help  him,"  said  Bettina,  incidentally  helping 
herself  to  a  glass  of  champagne,  which  the  Duchess 
pleasantly  deprived  her  of. 

"There  is  something  very  touching  in  a  young  man 
leaving  all — wealth,  career,  everything — to  live  alone 
in  a  foreign  country,"  said  the  Duchess,  dreamily. 

That  was  where  my  role  began ;  I  saw  the  danger 
of  the  situation,  the  natural  sympathy  of  this  young 
wife — herself  sick  for  a  husband's  sympathy.  So  I 
said  : 

"It  is  very  natural,  after  all.  Prince  Edric  cares 
more  for  quiet,  more  for  freedom,  more  for  his  birds 
and  beetles  than  he  does  for  a  window  in  the  Branden- 
bourg  Palace." 

"  So  would  I,"  said  Bettina,  picking  up  a  bunch  of 
grapes. 

"  But  the  loneliness  of  it !"  said  the  Duchess. 

Ah,  the  loneliness  !  Who  but  she  should  know 
what  loneliness  meant  —  she  whose  heart's  hopeless 
isolation  roused  her  to  pity  at  the  thought  of  others 
who  might  suffer  what  she  suffered  ? 

And  that  was  dangerous  too. 

"  No  man  is  lonely  whose  thoughts  are  free,"  I  said. 
144 


THE    FOREST    OF    ARDEN 

"  The  Prince  is  happiest  when  alone — now  that  he  is 
no  longer  Prince/' 

' '  So  princes  are  slaves,  even  in  their  thoughts  ?" 
asked  the  Du  chess,  faintly  smiling. 

"If  I  have  freedom  in  my  love, 

And  in  my  soul  am  free, 
Angels  alone  that  soar  above 
Enjoy  such  liberty," 

I  quoted  in  English,  and  added  :  "  As  there  is  nothing 
about  foxes  in  that,  Mademoiselle  d'Yssel  may  find  it 
stupid." 

"I  do,"  began  Bettina,  cheerfully,  but  was  re 
strained  by  the  Duchess,  who  laid  two  white  fingers 
on  Bettina's  wrist,  and  rose  from  her  chair. 

"  Come,"  she  said  to  the  young  girl ;  "  remember 
Exercise  109 ;  you  didn't  learn  everything  in  the 
convent." 

Bettina  apparently  disagreed  with  her  Highness,  but 
only  said,  wistfully :  "  I  thought  we  were  going  to  show 
Monsieur  Hardy  Prince  Edric's  little  house." 

6 '  Perhaps  Monsieur  Hardy  would  rather  find  it  for 
himself,"  said  the  Duchess,  teasingly.  "  Really,  Bet 
tina,  do  you  believe  that  everybody  enjoys  your  com 
pany  as  well  as  I  pretend  to  ?" 

"You  do,  don't  you  ?"  asked  the  young  girl,  look 
ing  at  me  with  round,  hazel  eyes,  in  which,  through  all 
their  innocent  frankness,  I  caught  the  faintest  glim 
mer  of  coquetry — only  a  glimmer  that  came  from  some 
where  deep  in  the  hidden  womanhood  within  her. 

"Exercise  109,"  said  the  Duchess,  musingly. 

I  laughed. 

"I  think  the  Countess  of  Wilverwiltz  must  have 
K  145 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

driven  Prince  Edric  to  Saint- Yssel ;  she  has  been 
away  so  long,"  said  Bettina,  making  conversation  an 
excuse  to  linger. 

"  Come,  dear,"  said  the  Duchess,  pleasantly,  linking 
Bettina's  arm  in  hers  with  a  little  moue  of  despair 
at  me. 

I  attended  them  to  the  terrace,  then  retraced  my 
steps  across  the  lawn,  and,  entering  the  wood  road, 
sauntered  on  into  the  forest. 

A  keeper,  passing,  gave  me  good-day,  and  pointed 
out  the  road  that  leads  to  Wiltz,  where  Prince  Edric 
had  established  himself.  I  walked  a  little  way  on  the 
Wiltz  road,  then  turned  back,  for  I  was  not  yet  ready 
to  see  Edric — or  was  it  Edric  I  shrank  from  ? 

"''Pooh,"  said  I,  "let  her  drive  him  all  over  Bel 
gium  ;  what  do  I  care  I" 

I  sat  down  on  a  grassy  bank  and  lighted  my  pipe — 
a  sign  of  trouble — for  I  never  smoke  pipes  unless  dis 
tressed  in  mind  or  body. 

"I  fancy  she  won't  drive  me  about  in  her  trap,"  I 
thought,  bitterly;  "if  she  drives  me  at  all  it  will  be 
across  the  frontier." 

The  forest  was  very  still,  save  for  those  sudden 
dropping  sounds  that  always  come  in  forest  silence — 
perhaps  nuts  falling  before  their  time,  perhaps  twigs 
and  leaves  too  early  ripe. 

A  hedgehog  gliding  by  like  a  sea-urchin  on  invis 
ible  wheels,  poked  his  pointed  snout  at  me  and  backed 
away  with  that  half  hiss,  half  grunt,  indicative  of 
hedgehog  alarm  and  wrath.  I  tossed  a  pebble  at  him 
to  make  him  curl  up  in  a  ball ;  and  he  did,  lying  there 
in  underbrush  like  an  enormous  chestnut-bur. 

A  lithe  stoat,  slipping  past,  stopped  to  sniff  at  the 
146 


THE    FOREST    OF    ARDEN 

prickly  inert  mass,  then  glided  on,  sinuous  as  a  sleek 
snake.  Many  a  pheasant  had  nourished  his  glistening 
body,  many  a  partridge's  brains  had  furnished  that 
marauding  woodland  epicure  with  best  of  cheer. 

The  sight  of  the  stoat  irritated  me,  although  I  do 
not  have  the  inborn  hatred  that  a  keeper  has  for  the 
enemies  of  his  charges  —  badgers,  polecats,  stoats, 
weasels,  otters,  hedgehogs,  hawks,  kestrels,  owls, 
herons,  and  magpies.  On  the  contrary,  I  love  them 
all — judiciously — and  I  fancy  that  kestrels  and  badg 
ers  seldom  indulge  in  forbidden  food  when  small 
birds  and  insects  and  vegetables  are  plenty.  But  a 
stoat — ugh  ! — it  is  as  repulsive  to  me  as  a  red-eyed 
ferret ;  and  it's  quite  as  murderous  too.  And  as  I  sat 
thinking  there  under  the  trees,  smoking  to  dull  the 
pain  in  my  heart  until  the  hot  pipe  bit  my  tongue,  far 
away  through  the  forest  I  heard  a  whip-lash  snap. 
Then  I  heard  a  fresh  girlish  voice  singing  in  the  dis 
tance,  and  the  crack  of  the  whip  sounded  nearer  ;  and 
presently  a  trap  came  into  view,  driven  by  a  young 
lady  who  carolled  away  in  high  spirits  and  cracked  her 
beribboned  whip,  oblivious  of  everything — of  sky  and 
wood  and  the  stolid  groom  with  folded  arms  behind 
her — oblivious  of  me,  too,  until  I  rose,  red  as  fire,  and 
took  off  my  hat  to  Amyce  de  Wiltz,  Countess  of  Wil- 
verwiltz. 

That  my  apparition  was  both  surprising  and  unwel 
come  was  evident.  The  Countess  looked  me  full  in 
the  face,  reining  in  her  horse  mechanically ;  then,  with 
an  inclination  which  was  more  cutting  than  a  lash  from 
her  whip,  passed  on.  A  whiz  of  wheels,  a  vanishing 
sparkle  of  brightly  shod  hoofs,  and  the  countenance  of 
the  moon-faced  groom  diminishing  in  a  flurry  of  dust. 

147 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

Bat  her  song  had  ceased  at  sight  of  me.  I  listened 
intently,  long  after  she  had  gone.  Perhaps  she  was 
tired  of  singing. 

"  The  deuce  take  it  I"  said  I,  stepping  out  into  the 
road  where  a  shoe,  flung  from  her  horse's  left  hind- 
foot,  lay  glistening  in  the  dust. 

"  The  deuce  take  it  I'1  I  repeated  ;  but  I  took  it  my 
self  and  handled  it  as  better  men  than  I  handle  holy 
relics. 

' '  An  imbecile  superstition,"  said  I,  aloud.  Never 
theless,  I  dropped  it  into  the  pocket  of  my  jacket  and 
looked  guiltily  around. 

And  I  was  greatly  mortified  to  discover  a  young 
man,  faultlessly  attired,  standing  in  the  road  behind 
me,  examining  me  through  a  single  eye-glass. 


CHAPTER  XV 
THE    HORSE-SHOE 

Concerning  an  attempt  to  influence  Fate  undertaken  by  a  young 
man  in  search  of  the  Millennium 

MY  first  emotion  was,  as  I  say,  mortification  ;  my 
first  instinct,  resentment.  At  the  same  time  I  was 
glad  that  it  had  not  been  an  inferior  who  witnessed 
my  superstitions  rite.  A  man  understands  weakness 
in  his  equals. 

"  Who  stoops  for  luck  must  have  twenty  fingers/' 
said  the  young  man,  screwing  his  eye-glass  into  his 
left  eye.  He  gazed  earnestly  into  the  dust  where,  at 
my  feet,  the  imprint  of  the  horse  -  shoe  lay.  ' '  Were 
there  any  nails  in  it  ?"  he  inquired,  seriously. 

"  Five,"  I  replied,  with  a  reserve  born  of  a  growing 
suspicion. 

"  Five  years'  luck,"  he  said,  gayly ;  "  and  five's  an 
odd  number,  too." 

He  bowed  without  embarrassment  and  offered  me 
his  hand,  saying  in  English  :  "  I'm  glad  I  have  such  a 
lucky  aide-de-camp !  I  fancy  you  are  Lieutenant 
Hardy.  How  d'ye  do  !  I'm  Athel  of  Luxembourg." 

I  had  suspected  his  identity,  not  because  he  re 
sembled  at  all  the  idea  I  had  of  the  Grand  Duke  of 
Luxembourg  from  his  photographs,  but  because  of 
his  strongly  marked  English  accent. 

He  appeared  to  be  younger  than  his  photographs 
149 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

indicated,  and,  strangely  enough,  he  was  thoroughly 
English  in  type — tall,  sunburned,  with  pleasant  Saxon 
eyes,  and  that  clean  contour  of  cheek  and  chin  charac 
teristic  of  the  Saxon  Englishman.  There  was  also 
that  slight  droop  to  his  mustache  that  adds  to  the 
seriousness  of  expression  so  noticeable  among  the 
English.  But  he  was  a  man's  man,  I  saw  that  at 
once,  and  I  liked  him.  Perhaps  the  Anglo-Saxon 
characteristics  warmed  my  heart  a  little  too.  Eng 
lishmen  are  never  foreigners,  like  the  Irish  or  French ; 
and  blood  is  thicker  than  whiskey  or  vichy. 

"  And  you  think  a  superstitious  aide-de-camp  an  ac 
quisition  ?"  I  asked,  smiling. 

"Undoubtedly,"  he  said.  "I  am  as  superstitious 
as  any  old  wife  who  plants  white-thorn  to  keep  off 
lightning,  or  burns  gorse  to  keep  the  devil  from 
milking  her  cows.  And  I'm  glad  you  found  that 
horse-shoe." 

"Luck  came  to  the  man  who  hatched  thirteen 
chickens  from  a  dozen  eggs/'  I  said,  laughing,  "  but 
Fve  always  suspected  those  dozen  eggs  were  a  '  baker's 
dozen.'" 

"  Don't  disillusion  me,  it's  bad  luck  !"  he  protested, 
also  laughing;  and  he  held  up  both  hands,  crossing 
the  first  and  second  fingers  on  each. 

I  gravely  followed  his  example,  making  the  mystic 
sign  against  evil,  which  pleased  him  immensely. 

"  Come,"  he  said,  heartily  ;  "  give  me  a  man  with  a 
robust  fear  of  bad  luck  and  I'll  show  you  a  good 
Christian.  Shall  we  walk  ?  I  drove  to  Saint- Yssel 
so  I  could  walk  across  the  woodland.  I  love  walking, 
don't  you  ?  I  love  the  woods,  don't  you  ?  I  knew 
you  did ;  I  noticed  the  little  twitch  of  your  nostril. 

150 


THE    HORSE-SHOE 

Come  on ;  I'll  show  you  what  game  God  and  the 
poachers  have  spared  me.  I  wish  I  had  my  shooting- 
clothes — but  come  ahead,  anyway." 

Dressed  faultlessly  as  he  was,  I  dreaded  to  see  his 
silk  hat  pierced  by  a  pointed  twig  or  his  frock-coat 
covered  with  dock  and  ripped  by  briers.  Both  con 
tingencies  occurred,  however,  but  he  only  said,  "Damn 
it !"  and  continued  his  enthusiastic  course  through 
thickets  and  scarcely  discernible  trails,  pointing  out 
everything,  delighted  as  a  boy  in  a  partridge  covey. 

He  showed  me  an  evil-looking  bog,  threaded  by 
sluggish  streams,  and  told  me  that  the  first  flight  of 
woodcock  always  dropped  there. 

We  examined  one  or  two  hawk-traps,  in  one  of 
which  dangled  a  dead  magpie  ;  we  knowingly  knelt 
on  the  short  turf,  speculating  about  a  badger  who 
had,  as  usual,  clumsily  proclaimed  his  presence  by 
scratching  up  the  sod  for  a  yard  around  a  rabbit 
burrow. 

"Foxes  don't  do  that,"  I  observed. 

"  They're  too  foxy,"  said  the  Duke,  unconscious  of 
any  offense  against  the  language.  "A  fox  puts  one 
paw  in,  dainty  as  a  cat  on  wet  leaves,  if  you  please.  I 
have  a  soft  spot  in  my  heart  for  poachers,  whether 
they  run  on  two  legs  or  on  four." 

We  put  up  plenty  of  pheasants  and  even  a  few  wild 
ducks  that,  the  Duke  explained,  bred  on  the  Semois. 
Occasionally  we  heard  the  crashing  of  startled  deer  in 
the  hill  thickets,  but  saw  no  large  game  except  a  wild 
boar,  covered  with  dust,  rooting  up  turnips  in  a  patch 
that  bordered  the  western  forest  edge. 

"Beyond,"  said  the  Duke,  "  lies  the  free  Ardennes, 
where  the  wolves  are.  We  manage  to  keep  them  out 

151 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

of  the  preserve  fairly  well,  though  I  have  no  doubt 
that  there  are  some  in  here  now." 

Turning  homeward,  for  the  sun  hung  low  above  the 
blue  trees  in  the  west,  we  rambled  through  the  splen 
did  forest,  exchanging  confidential  data  concerning 
the  influence  of  incubators  on  the  plumage  of  the 
Amherst  pheasant,  and  the  disputed  theory  of  re 
lationship  between  ferrets  and  polecats. 

Once  or  twice  I  ventured  to  mention  the  object  of 
my  presence  in  Luxembourg,  but  he  said  :  "  Oh,  bother 
the  army  now  ;  let's  talk  shot-gun  !  Do  you  mind  ?" 

"  No,"  I  said,  laughing,  "  but  I  thought  you  might 
care  to  give  me  an  idea  of  what  is  contemplated." 

"  Perhaps  Fd  better,"  he  replied,  thoughtfully.  "  I 
saw  his  Excellency  this  morning,  and  he  tells  me  that 
Germany  has  notified  him  that  the  Emperor  cannot 
regard  with  unconcern  any  increase  in  the  Luxem 
bourg  army." 

"  Good  Heavens  !"  I  blurted  out.  "  That  of  course 
means  war !" 

"  It  will  if  your  country  stands  by  us,"  he  said. 
"  His  Excellency  has  cabled  and  he  expects  instruc 
tions  by  the  end  of  the  week." 

Of  course  that  tied  my  hands  for  the  time  being ; 
it  disappointed  me  too,  for  I  had  begun  to  take  the 
greatest  interest  in  the  reorganisation  of  the  Luxem 
bourg  forces,  and  I  had  promised  myself  much  pleas 
ure  in  breaking  in  and  brigading  raw  material  as  soon 
as  the  law  proclaiming  universal  service  had  been  pro 
mulgated. 

The  Duke  asked  me  to  give  him  an  outline  of  my 
scheme,  and  I  did  so,  even  going  into  details  of  mobili 
sation  and  permanent  garrisons.  He  was  a  trifle  sur- 

152 


THE    HORSE-SHOE 

prised,  I  fancy,  by  my  knowledge  of  a  country  so  new 
to  me.  But  he  approved  the  whole  scheme  in  the 
rough,  saying,  with  a  quizzical  smile  :  "  Of  course  the 
treasury  is  to  be  handled  with  gloves  or  my  dear  Baron 
d'Arlon  may  pull  the  purse-strings  under  our  noses." 

"But,  surely,"  I  said,  "the  Chamber  of  Deputies 
will  vote  appropriations  for  defence;  even  our  Con 
gress  has  been  known  to  do  that,  at  times  I" 

"  My  dear  fellow,"  he  said,  seriously,  "  the  Cham 
ber  of  Deputies  is  as  hopelessly  imbecile  as  your  Con 
gress,  and  the  mental  stability  of  both  is  on  a  par  with 
the  stability  of  a  French  ministry  or  a  South  American 
republic.  If  the  money  is  there,  probably  they  won't 
vote  it ;  if  it  isn't,  they're  apt  to  vote  millions." 

We  came  in  sight  of  the  chateau  before  he  finished 
speaking,  where,  on  the  lawn,  the  Countess  of  Wilver- 
wiltz,  assisted  by  Bettina  d'Yssel,  was  instructing  a 
vicious -looking  French  bull -dog  to  jump  through  a 
hoop. 

I  felt  the  blood  tingling  my  ears  as  we  advanced 
along  the  shaded  avenue  towards  the  terrace,  where 
the  bull-dog  ungallantly  bolted  from  the  ladies  and 
flung  his  brindled  body  enthusiastically  against  the 
Duke's  legs. 

"  Take  your  ungrateful  dog,  Monsieur  le  Due  !" 
cried  Bettina,  with  flushed  cheeks.  "  I  hate  ingrati 
tude,  even  in  a  dog — and  I  gave  Flic  my  last  bon-bon  !" 

"  Fear  sometimes  does  Love's  errands,"  said  the 
Duke,  smiling.  "Flic  might  be  more  grateful  for  a 
cuff  than  a  bon-bon." 

"But  you  never  strike  Flic,"  said  Bettina. 

"And  I  never  give  Flic  bon-bons,"  said  the  Duke, 
gravely. 

153 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"Which  is  the  way  to  make  dogs  love  yon/'  ob 
served  the  Countess,  with  brightening  eyes. 

The  Duke's  cheeks  grew  tense  along  the  jaw,  but 
he  smiled  and  caressed  the  square  eager  head  of  the 
dog  at  his  knee ;  and  Flic  panted  and  whined  and 
adored,  yawning  spasmodically  from  over-indulgence 
in  many  emotions. 

"You  ennui  me — tiens  !"  said  Bettina  to  Flic,  "I 
wish  I  had  my  bon-bon  that  you  sat  up  for  !" 

The  Duke,  Flic  at  his  heels,  sauntered  up  to  the 
terrace,  saying  he'd  something  better  to  do  than  to 
hear  his  dog  maligned  ;  but  Bettina  linked  her  arm 
lovingly  in  his  and  continued  her  denunciations  of 
Flic  until  their  laughing  voices  died  out  in  the  long 
hallway  beyond  the  terrace. 

If  I  had  expected  the  Countess  to  go  I  found  out  my 
mistake.  Uncomfortable  as  I  was,  alone  there  with  her, 
I  could  not  wish  to  be  anywhere  else,  for  that  meant 
despair.  I  must  go  on  loving  her — there  was  no  escape ; 
and  it  almost  angered  me  to  confess  it  to  myself. 

1 '  It  displeases  you  that  I  have  come  to  Wil  verwiltz  ?" 
I  said,  with  that  rising  inflection  that  in  itself  makes 
an  observation  deferential. 

"  It  leaves  me  quite  indifferent,  monsieur,"  she  said, 
without  emotion. 

"  And  if  I  talk  to  you  ?"  I  asked. 

"Mon  Dieu,  Monsieur  Hardy,  I  talk  to  Flic." 

The  sting  of  the  words  left  my  face  burning,  but  I 
only  said :  "  Pride  is  sometimes  the  greatest  thing  in 
the  world — and  it  is  sometimes  the  least.  To  endure 
proudly  is  noble  ;  to  revenge  is  to  unmask." 

She  raised  her  eyebrows  coolly  and  looked  me  in 
the  eyes:  "Etapres?" 

154 


THE    HORSE-SHOE 

"  Insolence  is  Pride  with  her  mask  pulled  off/'  I 
said,  distinctly. 

She  did  not  answer,  but  her  eyes  sparkled. 

"Your  intrigue  to  disgrace  me  was  as  cruel  as  it 
was  useless/7  I  said.  "  What  satisfaction  could  it  be 
to  you  to  ruin  my  career  ?" 

"  I  do  not  wish  to/'  she  replied  ;  "  you  will  do  that 
act  of  justice  for  yourself." 

"  You  mean  if  one  gives  a  rascal  rope  he'll  lynch 
himself  ?"  I  asked,  trying  to  swallow  the  bitterness 
of  this  futile  duel  of  words.  But  I  was  no  sword- 
swallower. 

"  Perhaps  I  mean  that." 

I  could  not  speak,  for  the  hot  anger  choked  me; 
yet,  through  it  all — through  the  misery  of  her  hate 
for  me — I  knew  I  loved  her  so  well  that  even  she  must 
suspect  it. 

"  You  are  too  clever  to  plot  with  others  for  my  de 
struction,"  I  said  ;  "many  heads  obstruct  intrigue, 
and  slowest  insects  have  most  legs.  The  Spanish  In 
quisition  working  Sundays  and  holidays  would  hurt 
no  less  than  a  cutting  word  from  you." 

The  Countess  laughed  a  melodious  little  laugh, 
utterly  mirthless.  Then  she  said  : 

"  When  the  cat  surprised  the  mouse  in  the  sugar- 
bowl,  the  mouse  said  :  '  I  love  you  ;  come  into  the 
bowl  and  we'll  eat  sugar — if  you  are  hungry.'" 

She  said  it  in  Flemish,  not  caring — perhaps  hoping 
I  would  not  understand.  It  was  an  insolent  speech  ; 
it  was  doubly  vindictive  in  Flemish. 

"If  I  judge  the  Countess  of  Wilverwiltz  justly,"  I 
said,  in  a  low  voice,  "I  think  she  already  regrets  that 
speech." 

155 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

The  colour  flew  to  her  face  and  the  impulsive  words 
came,  even  before  I  finished. 

"  I  do  regret  it,"  she  said ;  ' '  I  am  ashamed.  I  hate 
yon  so  heartily  that  I  want  a  respectful  hatred  from 
you  in  return." 

That  she  could  desire  anything  from  me,  even  hatred, 
was  something.  "Love  me  !  Hate  me  !  Only  don't  be 
indifferent,"  is  the  truest  axiom  ever  misunderstood. 

"You  have  the  respect,"  I  said,  "I  can't  promise 
you  the  hatred."  And  the  expression  on  my  face  was 
as  good  as  "  I  love  you."  And  she  knew  it. 

But  she  had  made  up  her  mind  to  hate — and  she  did 
hate  with  a  determination  that  amazed  and  discour 
aged  me.  Given  a  cordial  dislike  founded  on  injured 
pride,  add  to  that  a  desire  to  humiliate  the  object 
of  dislike,  and  to  that  add  the  failure  to  humiliate  ! 
The  result  is  a  healthy  hatred  that  time  will  either 
strengthen  or  uproot. 

"If  I  can  make  you  suffer  for  what  you  have  made 
me  suffer,"  she  said,  "it  will  be  justice,  not  revenge. 
If  I  can  teach  you  a  lesson  that  may  save  some  other 
woman's  pride,  I  shall  do  it." 

I  said  nothing. 

She  took  one  step  towards  the  terrace,  then  stood  still. 

"  I  know  what  men's  consideration  for  women  is. 
And  it  is  revolting  to  know  it.  I  never  saw  a  man 
worthy  of  any  woman — no,  not  the  most  spotless 
among  yon.  And  to  be  humiliated  by  one  of  you — !" 

She  lifted  the  hem  of  her  summer  gown  daintily — 
perhaps  because  there  was  a  little  dew  on  the  turf. 

Then  she  went  around  the  corner  of  the  house,  re 
turning  my  bow  with  a  pretty  inclination  of  her  small 
head. 

156 


THE    HORSE-SHOE 

"In  the  meantime,"  said  I  to  myself,  "I  have  the 
horse-shoe  with  five  nails.  Doubtless  the  millennium  is 
at  hand— perhaps  it's  hiding  just  around  the  corner 
of  the  house — " 

I  went  to  look.  If  the  millennium  was  concealed 
somewhere  among  the  flower-beds  I  did  not  find  it. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
THE     RENDEZVOUS 

Containing  examples  of  phenomena  peculiar  to  Jiealthy  -  minded 
young  men  in  love;  also  tJie  results  of  an  experiment  in 
doing  yourself  what  you  despise  in  others 

THE  next  morning  I  awoke  to  the  ear  -  splitting 
paeon  of  a  peacock,  an  imperious  bird,  who  stood  on 
the  marble  terrace  and  saluted  the  rising  sun  in  a 
voice  as  metallic  as  his  own  plumage.  The  sun  stared 
above  the  forest  like  the  red,  smoky  lens  of  a  light 
house,  pulsating  with  hidden  fires  ;  and  all  around  the 
blue  ashes  of  the  night  faded  to  gray,  to  pearl,  and 
then,  once  more  afire,  glowed  and  scattered  into  flecks 
of  silver,  saffron,  and  rose. 

In  spite  of  the  sunrise  and  the  peacock  I  would 
gladly  have  gone  to  sleep  again,  but  a  small  bird,  spe 
cies  unnoted  and  probably  unimportant  to  anybody 
except  the  bird  itself,  came  and  sat  on  my  window- 
ledge,  and  twittered  and  peeped  and  piped  and  trilled 
until  nervous  astonishment  drove  me  to  investigate 
my  tormentor.  When  it  saw  me  it  said,  ' '  Tweet ! 
twe-et !" 

The  bird  was  ridiculously  small  to  make  such  noises 
and  of  so  many  kinds.  It  had  a  dove-coloured  head, 
with  black  cheeks  and  salmon-tinted  undergarments. 
Music  appeared  to  spurt  from  it  as  water  sprays  from 
a  leaky  hose. 

158 


THE    RENDEZVOUS 

After  a  while  it  flitted  away ;  and  I,  all  desire  for 
sleep  extinguished  by  the  shower  of  gratuitous  mel 
ody,  sat  down  at  the  open  window  and,  chin  on  hand, 
gazed  into  the  vague  blue  woodland  where  the  ghosts 
of  the  night  mist  drifted,  tall  sheeted  spectres  of  pond 
and  stream,  returning  to  the  clouds  again.  On  the 
dim  lawn  below,  as  yet  unwarned  by  the  mist-shot 
sun,  two  magpies  quarrelled  and  chased  each  other 
through  the  dew  until  the  French  bull-dog,  Flic, 
charged  them  with  hysterical  yelps  and  unwarranted 
faith  in  his  bandy  legs. 

The  chateau,  as  far  as  its  human  tenants  were  con 
cerned,  was  silent.  However,  I  bathed  and  dressed, 
determined  to  pay  Prince  Edric  a  sunrise  visit  and 
shame  him  for  a  naturalist  and  a  soldier. 

As  I  descended  the  terrace,  the  peacock,  all  shim 
mering  in  metallic  golden  greens  and  purples,  puffed 
out  his  sapphire  breast,  clicked  his  tail  open  like  a  fan, 
and,  chocolate-coloured  wings  trailing,  slowly  pivoted, 
displaying  a  rear  view  not  at  all  remarkable.  I  won 
der  why  it  is  that  peacocks  do  that  ? 

Flic  came  and  sniffed  at  my  gaiters.  Perhaps  he 
respected  the  odour  of  guns  and  game  that  clung  to  my 
shooting-jacket,  for  he  did  not  bite  me.  However,  he 
ignored  my  invitation  for  a  forest  stroll,  and  I  went 
on  alone  over  the  dew-drenched  lawn  and  down  the 
road  to  the  forest. 

As  I  walked  I  thought  of  the  Countess  as  I  had 
seen  her  the  night  before,  silent,  perhaps  preoccu 
pied,  perhaps  the  contrary,  but  always  sufficiently 
alert  to  ignore  me  completely.  Not  that  she  had  the 
bad  taste  to  show  it  pointedly ;  she  accomplished  it 
without  effort  and  without  embarrassing  me.  Perhaps 

159 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

it  cut  more  deeply  on  that  account,  although  I  was 
the  only  one  present  who  appreciated  my  artistic  iso 
lation — as  far  as  she  was  concerned. 

(( It  is  more  expensive  to  revenge  injuries  than  to 
bear  them,"  thought  I  to  myself  ;  ' '  although  to  those 
rich  in  vengeance  a  mere  matter  of  expense  is  noth 
ing.  I  suppose  she'll  do  it  sooner  or  later ;  patience 
and  meditation  work  miracles — and  the  pope's  mule 
waited  seven  years  to  kick." 

It  was  a  mean  metaphor,  even  for  a  man. 

As  I  walked  along  the  Wiltz  road,  reflectively 
chewing  a  grass-stem,  it  occurred  to  me  that  the 
world  was  too  fair,  too  fresh  and  innocent,  too  peace 
ful  for  hatred  and  sadness.  I  looked  at  the  foliage, 
arching  the  moist  forest  road,  I  saw  the  sun's  jewels 
flash  in  dew-soaked  spiders'  films  on  wet  bushes  and 
diamond-crusted  grass-blades ;  1  heard  mottled  wood 
birds  trilling  the  happiness  of  living,  I  heard  the 
still  movements  of  a  million  tiny  things  awakening  to 
life  and  motion.  And  sounds  and  colour  and  form 
and  movement  united  in  one  vast,  silent,  thrilling  har 
mony,  a  hymn  of  praise,  praising  the  ecstasy  of  living. 

"If  a  man  can  feel  that  way  before  breakfast," 
thought  I,  "he  may  not  perhaps  be  fit  for  paradise, 
but  he  certainly  wouldn't  make  a  bad  husband.  Oh, 
Amyce  !  Amyce  !" 

This  may  sound  sentimental  unless  you  remember 
that  "this  is  the  forest  of  Arden." 

"  Thank  Heaven  for  that,"  said  I,  aloud  ;  "  if  Ar 
den  is  a  lover's  asylum,  it  is  much  pleasanter  than 
other  resorts  for  incurables." 

About  this  time,  my  madness  being  upon  me,  I  be 
gan  to  recite  aloud  as  I  walked  : 

160 


THE    RENDEZVOUS 

"Her  breath,  like  to  the  whispering  winde, 
Was  calm  as  thought,  sweete  as  her  minde  ; 
Her  lips,  like  coral  gates,  kept  in 
The  perfume  and  the  pearls  within; 
Her  eyes,  a  double-flaming  torch 
That  always  shine  and  never  scorch; 
Herselfe,  the  Heav'n  in  which  did  meet 
The  all  of  bright,  of  fair  and  sweet." 

And  I  meant  every  word  of  it  too ;  and,  though  the 
Countess  Amyce  was  doubtless  still  dreaming  peace 
fully — perhaps  of  my  future  discomfiture — I  bravely 
celebrated  her : 

"  Up  with  the  jolly  bird  of  light 
Who  sounds  his  third  retreat  to-night, 
Fair  Amyce,  from  her  snowy  bed, 
Ashamed  starts  and  rises  red 
As  the  carnation-mantled  morn." 

I  waved  one  hand  and  continued  : 

"So  like  the  Provance  rose  she  walkt 
Flowered  with  blush,  with  verdure  stalkt ; 
Th'  officious  wind  her  loose  hay  re  curls, 
The  dewe  her  happy  linen  purls, 
But  wets  a  tress,  which  instantly 
Sol  with  a  crisping  beame  doth  dry." 

But  mere  recitation  was  not  enough ;  song  alone 
could  relieve  my  swelling  heart.  And  I  carolled  lust 
ily,  as  I  had  often  chanted,  the  famous  Seventh  Cav 
alry  anthem  of  Barney  Riley  : 

"Sing  out,  pent  souls,  sing  cheerfully! 
Care  shackles  you  in  liberty  ; 
Mirth  frees  you  in  captivity. 
Would  you  double  fetters  adde  ? 
Else  why  so  sadde  ?" 
L  161 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

Before  I  had  finished  the  last  bar  I  stood  in  front  of 
Wiltz  Lodge,  Prince  Edric's  modest  retreat.  And 
I  might  have  snng  the  second  verse  had  not  Prince 
Edric  opened  a  shutter  and  leaned  out  with  an  an 
noyed  questioning  expression  that  discouraged  me. 

When  he  saw  who  it  was  he  laughed,  rubbed  his 
sleep  -  dimmed  eyes,  stifled  a  yawn,  laughed  again, 
and  said  :  "  0  Orlando  Furioso,  enter  into  thy  heri 
tage ! 

"  Pray,  Orlando,  don't  turn  back  ! 
Share  the  cottage 
And  the  pottage 
Of  thy  melancholy  Jacques  !" 

which  is  as  good  verse  as  you  can  expect  from  a 
drowsy  German,  eh  ?" 

A  squatty,  blond  servant,  with  no  perceptible  eye 
brows  and  a  shock  of  colourless  hair  clipped  pompa 
dour,  opened  the  door  for  me,  but  I  preferred  to  sit 
on  the  stone  piazza  outside  until  Edric  had  tubbed 
and  groomed  himself. 

"  Hungry  ?"  he  inquired,  buttoning  his  collar  and 
leaning  out  of  the  broad  window  beside  me. 

"Not  at  all,"  I  said,  sarcastically;  "I  never  eat 
anything — except  my  words,  now  and  then." 

"  Oho  !     Have  you  breakfasted  ?     Guten  appetit !" 

"  Thanks.  I  once  said  there  were  no  good  Germans 
but  dead  Germans.  Fll  eat  those  words  as  an  ap 
petiser ;  but,  for  Heaven's  sake,  hurry  breakfast !" 

The  breakfast  was  chocolate,  tartines  a  la  cam- 
pagne,  peaches,  grapes,  melons,  and  the  sweet  water 
of  the  Ardennes  springs,  limpid  and  icy. 

Edric,  lounging  thoughtfully  in  a  piazza  chair, 
162 


THE    RENDEZVOUS 

watched  me  manage  a  tartine  in  a  manner  peculiar  to 
the  peasantry  of  Normandy. 

"That's  right,"  he  said;  "its  barbarous  but  deli 
cious.  Who  cares  what  an  imbecile  civilisation  thinks !" 

"I  don't — just  now/'  I  said,  brandishing  another 
tartine. 

The  canary-tinted  servant,  whose  name  was  Nicola, 
came  to  remove  the  cloth  and  deposit  finger-bowls, 
but  Edric  said  :  "  Set  'em  down  and  go  away  and  do 
something  somewhere." 

"Where  ?"  asked  Nicola,  bewildered. 

"  Where  ?  I  told  you  to  do  something  somewhere 
or  anything  anywhere,  didn't  I  ?" 

And  Nicola,  a  trifle  wild-eyed,  began  to  roam  about 
in  an  aimless  daze  until  he  encountered  a  doorway, 
which  he  mechanically  entered  and  disappeared  for 
the  rest  of  the  morning. 

Edric  lighted  his  cigar  and  asked  me  how  I  liked 
Wilverwiltz ;  and  I  told  him,  omitting  all  reference  to 
the  Countess. 

"  Yes,"  he  said,  "the  Duchess  is  charming.  It's  a 
pity  Athel  can't  appreciate  her.  As  for  the  others, 
they're  well  enough — " 

61  Well  enough  !"  I  repeated,  a  trifle  incensed  that 
he  should  include  Amyce  in  "  well  enough." 

"  Don't  you  think  so  ?  Have  you  met  the  Countess 
of  Wilverwiltz  ?" 

"  Yes,  I've  met  her,"  I  said. 

"Yesterday  she  drove  me  in  her  trap  all  over  the 
forest,"  said  Edric,  resentfully.  "  I  had  intended  to 
search  for  the  kestrel's  nest  that  Nicola  says  contains 
young.  I  wanted  to  identify  a  feather  I  found  in  the 
woods,  too,  but — well,  I  drove  a  trap." 

163 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

I  conld  have  beaten  him.  Fancy  a  man  mousing 
about  after  birds  and  feathers  when  he  could  drive  in 
a  trap  with  a  wingless  angel ! 

"  What's  the  matter  with  you  ?"  he  asked. 

"  Oh,  it's  the  forest  of  Arden,  I  suppose/'  I  an 
swered  ;  "  I'm  looking  for  Rosalind." 

"I  found  her — once,"  he  said,  in  a  low  voice. 

I  looked  curiously  around  the  wood  -  and  -  stone 
house,  for  it  was  here  that  Prince  Edric  had  met  his 
fate — the  beautiful  Luxembourg  peasant  girl.  And  I 
knew  it  was  because  of  her  memory  that  he  had  come 
to  live  in  Van  Tassel's  lodge,  here  in  the  Ardennes 
forest. 

"What  is  the  use  of  searching  the  world  for  a 
woman  whose  name  I  do  not  know?"  he  asked.  "If 
she  has  once  been  here,  perhaps  she  will  come  again." 

"It  is  strange,"  I  ventured,  "that  you  can  find  no 
trace  of  her  in  this  vicinity." 

He  replied  simply:  "It  is  very  strange.  Nobody 
within  miles  recognises  my  description  ;  nobody  ever 
heard  of  Van  Tassel's  niece.  I  am,  little  by  little, 
scouring  the  whole  province.  It  may  take  many 
months.  After  that — after  I  once  am  certain  she  is 
not  in  Luxembourg — I  shall  search  the  towns." 

"  And  then  ?" 

"I  don't  know,"  he  said. 

The  sad  shadows  under  his  eyes  began  to  deepen  ; 
he  stared  at  a  patch  of  sunshine  on  the  piazza  floor 
where  a  silver-bronzed  beetle,  a  Buprestis,  I  believe, 
stood  investigating  a  crack  in  the  boards  with  tiny 
restless  antennae. 

To  divert  his  thoughts  I  advanced  an  absurd  theory 
concerning  the  functions  of  coleoptera  antennae,  and 

164 


THE    RENDEZVOUS 

lie  was  lured  into  a  discussion  that  ended  with  a  mag- 
nif}ring-glass  and  the  temporary  imprisonment  of  the 
astonished  silver-bronze  Buprestis. 

"  All  right,"  I  said  ;  "  fads  are  pills  to  purge  melan 
choly,  and  the  devil  hires  the  unemployed." 

"  Do  his  wages  suit  ?"  asked  Edric,  maliciously. 

' '  Oh  !  you've  heard  that  I  am  temporarily  unem 
ployed  because  your  government  wants  to  know,  you 
know  —  eh  ?  Well,  my  bacteriological  friend,  the 
hardest  work  is  to  wait  for  a  chance  to  work.  So  Fm 
very  busy.  Good-bye." 

He  walked  a  few  steps  with  me,  holding  the  silver 
Buprestis  on  the  back  of  his  hand. 

1 '  What  about  my  extradition  ?"  he  said. 

"  Nothing.  There's  no  law  for  it,  and  his  Excel 
lency  stands  to  back  up  the  government." 

He  held  out  his  hand,  palm  down.  After  a  mo 
ment  the  silver  beetle  clicked  open  its  polished  elytra 
and  sailed  away  into  the  sunshine. 

"See  how  my  riches  take  wings,"  he  said;  "like 
my  hopes — " 

"  Pooh  !"  I  observed ;  "all  that  glitters  isn't  beetles ; 
you  can  catch  another  specimen  by  sitting  still  on 
your  own  porch.  Edric,  you  are  morbid."  We  shook 
hands  after  a  second's  hesitation. 

"I  saw  old  Vossburg  in  the  woods  yesterday,"  he 
said ;  "he  disappeared  like  a  fat  gray  rat  in  a  sewer." 

"  The  deuce  you  did  !"  I  cried,  disagreeably  startled. 

"It  was  inevitable,"  continued  the  Prince,  shrug 
ging  his  broad  shoulders.  "  I  did  not  expect  to  hide, 
nor  do  I  wish  to ;  but  now,  thank  God  !  my  front 
door  is  my  door,  and  when  I  shut  it  I  needn't  explain 
why  to  a  court-martial." 

165 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

There  was  a  brief  silence;  then  I  said:  "You  are 
alone  here  ?" 

"Well,  upon  my  word!"  he  murmured,  much 
amused;  "you  are  not  worrying  about  that,  are 
you?" 

"  No,"  said  I ;  "any  man  as  handy  with  a  revolver 
as  you  are — " 

He  reddened,  and  I  spared  him,  for  it  was  a  sore 
point,  and  he  hated  to  be  eulogised  as  "  Edric,  the 
Robber  Prince  of  the  Rhine." 

He  promised,  however,  to  keep  an  eye  on  any  prowl 
ing  German  emissaries,  and  again  we  shook  hands 
warmly,  he  turning  back  to  his  cottage,  I  walking 
briskly  into  the  woods. 

I  had  been  swinging  along  for  ten  minutes,  per 
haps,  taking  a  longer  road  instead  of  the  straight 
Wiltz  route,  when,  directly  ahead  of  me,  I  saw  Voss- 
burg  and  Wiepert,  sitting  on  the  grassy  bank  beside 
the  road,  absorbed  in  conversation. 

The  soft  bark  path  had  not  carried  the  sound  of  my 
footsteps  to  their  ears.  I  stepped  back  instinctively, 
and,  as  I  watched  them  through  the  bushes  at  the 
bend  of  the  road,  I  was  certain  they  had  not  noticed 
me. 

The  very  sight  of  that  uncanny  old  man  repelled 
me,  and  Wiepert's  rusty,  sepulchral  visage  was  scarcely 
more  edifying.  What  were  those  unpleasant  old  birds 
about  ?  They  were  hatching  something  between  them  ; 
probably,  like  a  pair  of  cuckoos,  the  schemes  they 
laid  were  to  be  hatched  by  nobler  birds. 

"William  the  Sudden  is  up  to  more  mischief," 
thought  I;  "his  Excellency  must  know  that  these 
vagabonds  have  appeared  in  Wilverwiltz." 

166 


THEY   STOOD   AT   THE   SIDE   OF   HER   HORSE,  HAT   IN   HAND 


THE    RENDEZVOUS 

I  have  no  appetite  for  spying.  I  should,  no  doubt, 
have  gone  on  and  asked  them  their  business  had  not 
a  thing  occurred  that  startled  me  into  prudence; 
for,  before  I  could  emerge  from  my  thicket  of  filbert 
bushes,  the  Countess  of  Wilverwiltz,  superbly  mount 
ed,  dashed  around  the  bend  of  the  road  at  a  gallop 
and  drew  bridle  directly  beside  that  pair  of  vagabonds. 
It  was  unmistakably  a  rendezvous. 

They  stood  on  each  side  of  her  horse,  hat  in  hand, 
and,  though  the  distance  was  too  far  for  me  to  under 
stand  what  they  said,  I  could  see  that  they  were 
eagerly  communicating  to  her  something  that  she 
found  most  interesting. 

For  ten  minutes  the  conversation  continued,  the 
Countess  leaning  forward  as  though  listening  to  words 
that  alternately  amazed  and  angered  her.  At  times 
she  touched  her  horse  impatiently  with  the  loop  on 
her  riding-crop,  and  the  spirited  mare  resented  it. 
I  wished  the  horse  might  quietly  kick  that  pair  of 
jail-birds  into  eternity. 

It  amazed  me  to  see  the  Countess  of  Wilverwiltz 
hobnobbing  with  German  spies  ;  it  angered  and 
sickened  me,  too;  and  I  would  gladly  have  wriggled 
out  of  the  bushes  and  gone  back  the  other  way,  but 
I  did  not  care  to  be  caught  emerging  from  such  a 
hiding-place,  for  I  knew  the  Countess  would  not  spare 
me. 

Then,  too,  if  I  had  not  feared  she  might  misunder 
stand  my  motive,  I  should  have  gone  out  and  taken  a 
hand  in  the  proceedings.  For  those  spies — Vossburg, 
at  all  events — had  committed  a  murderous  assault  on 
Prince  Edric.  Yet,  even  if  I  had  been  alone,  how 
was  I,  unarmed,  to  arrest  that  loathsome  old  man  ?  I 

167 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

couldn't  strike  him ;  his  bloated  head  of  white  woolly 
hair  forbade  it.  I  couldn't  menace  him,  for  I  had  no 
pistol.  As  for  dragging  him  to  Wilverwiltz,  that  was 
out  of  the  question  ;  his  unnatural  strength  prevent- 
ed  it. 

My  patience  was  almost  at  an  end  when  at  last  the 
Countess  straightened  up  in  her  saddle,  shook  out  her 
bridle,  and  galloped  down  the  road,  straight  past  my 
clump  of  bushes,  and  away  into  the  forest  towards 
Wiltz. 

Vossburg  and  Wiepert  crossed  the  road  immediately 
and  entered  the  dense  forest,  perhaps  by  some  hidden 
sentier  that  I  could  not  see.  At  any  rate,  they  disap 
peared  almost  as  quickly  as  the  Countess ;  and  I,  puz 
zled,  suspicious,  angry,  and  disgusted,  pulled  myself 
out  of  the  filbert  covert  and  started  for  the  chateau. 

"  He  that  proves  too  much  proves  nothing,"  thought 
I;  "and  also  it  is  probably  true  that  he  who  proves 
nothing  proves  too  much  for  his  own  health — where 
the  Countess  of  Wilverwiltz  is  concerned.  I'll  think  a 
great  deal,  but  I  doubt  if  I  say  much  to  anybody  ex 
cept  his  Excellency." 


CHAPTER  XVII 
CONSPIRACY 

An  account  of  a  dramatic  entry,  a  theatrical  exit,  and  the  opinion 
of  two  fools  concerning  the  folly  of  a  third 

FOR  a  week  I  ignored  the  Countess  as  successfully 
as  she  ignored  me;  and  it  gratified  me  to  observe 
that  she  resented  it.  But  I  had  plenty  to  occupy  me: 
regiments  to  raise,  on  paper ;  fortresses  to  garrison,  in 
my  dreams  ;  castles  to  build,  in  the  beautiful  sunny 
air  of  the  most  beautiful  spot  in  northern  Europe, 
Wilverwiltz.  I  played  golf  with  the  young  Duchess, 
I  rowed  Bettina  on  the  artificial  lake  until  my  head 
spun,  I  even  made  Flic's  acquaintance  by  means  of 
bon-bons,  and  a  friend  of  him  forever  by  cuffing  him 
soundly  for  chasing  a  bantam  hen. 

I  shot  a  few  logy  pheasants  with  the  Duke,  made  a 
spectacle  of  myself  by  missing  a  lot  of  ratlike  par 
tridges  one  hot  day  in  the  stubble,  and  finally  "  wiped 
the  eye "  of  his  Highness  by  killing  ten  snipe  to  his 
two  after  an  infernal  voyage  through  a  peat-bog,  in 
the  course  of  which  I  am  sure  my  legs  were  pulled 
out  half  an  inch  and  have  remained  so  ever  since. 

There  was  news  from  his  Excellency  which  troubled 
us.  Luxembourg  was  swarming  with  German  spies, 
he  said,  and  he  warned  us  to  see  that  the  army  was 
not  being  tampered  with.  As  far  as  regarded  Ger 
many's  protest  concerning  the  augmentation  of  the 

169 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

army,  we  had  as  yet  received  no  final  word  from  the 
United  States  government,,  but  the  Secretary  of  State 
had  advised  us  to  do  nothing  for  the  present,  so  that 
settled  it,  except  for  my  paper  schemes.  But,  on 
paper,  Luxembourg  was  already  one  of  the  most 
formidably  armed  conglomerations  of  fortresses  in 
Europe. 

There  had  been  a  few  guests  at  the  chateau,  though 
the  Duke  courted  retirement  and  the  society  of  his 
dogs  and  guns  ;  and  the  young  Duchess  had  no  heart 
for  gaieties,  although  she  pretended  she  had,  and 
showed  such  undisguised  pleasure  in  Prince  Edric's 
company  when  he  came  to  Wilverwiltz  that  I  won 
dered  something  unpleasant  didn't  happen. 

One  of  the  excitements  of  the  week  was  the  activity 
of  two  or  three  wolves,  not  in  the  free  Ardennes,  but 
in  the  preserve  itself.  The  deer  suffered  a  good  deal, 
and  the  Duke,  after  vainly  scouring  the  preserve, 
directed  the  digging  of  wolf-pits  and  the  placing  of 
thirty-pound  steel  wolf-traps — a  work  I  voluntarily 
superintended  with  his  Highness  and  Prince  Edric. 

A  coldness  had  sprung  up  between  the  Prince  and 
his  Highness  ;  it  was  not  exactly  visible,  but  there 
was  a  certain  restraint  in  their  relations  which  set  me 
thinking  that  the  Duke  might  some  day  make  the 
effort  to  swallow  his  own  abnormal  sensitiveness  and 
try  to  understand  his  wife. 

She  also  was  at  fault ;  she  was  ice  itself  to  the  Duke 
— ice  tempered  with  the  cold  sunlight  of  her  mirthless 
smile.  And  I  could  see,  even  in  a  week,  that  they 
were  drifting  further  from  each  other  and  involving 
two  absolutely  innocent  people  in  the  meshes  of  their 
suspicion  and  distress — Edric  and  Bettina. 

170 


CONSPIRACY 

Yet  the  Duchess  clung  the  closer  to  the  girl,  per 
haps  because  she  feared  Bettina  was  the  nearest  she 
might  ever  come  to  her  husband's  love,  and  the  Duke 
avoided  Edric,  which  is  a  man's  instinct  under  such 
circumstances. 

As  for  the  Countess  and  myself,  we  were  so  oblivious 
of  each  other  that  nobody  noticed  it  except  ourselves. 
Altogether  it  was  a  most  unhappy  little  court,  except 
that  Bettina  had  a  good  time ;  and  Edric,  never 
imagining  himself  under  suspicion,  moped  at  his  ease 
over  his  beautiful  Luxembourgeoise  and  collected 
many  rare  specimens  of  uninteresting  things.  Yes, 
Bettina  and  Flic  were  the  only  two  beings  in  Wil- 
verwiltz  heart  whole  and  fancy  free.  Bettina  had 
mourned  the  ingratitude  of  Flic  until  I  suggested 
that  she  cuff  him.  After  that  they  adored  each  other 
by  the  hour. 

If  the  days  succeeded  each  other  without  bringing 
any  open  unpleasantness  to  the  little  court  at  Wilver- 
wiltz,  they  also  passed  without  gaiety.  At  dinner  we 
were  a  subdued  company ;  the  Duke,  listless,  preoc 
cupied,  said  little  to  the  Duchess,  less  to  me,  and 
scarcely  addressed  a  word  to  his  honest  old  adjutant, 
Colonel  de  Ruyter,  a  Hollander  just  returned  from  a 
mission  to  The  Hague.  The  Duchess,  apparently  in 
different,  chatted  with  Bettina  and  the  Countess,  per 
fectly  aware  of  the  latter's  growing  dislike  for  the 
Duke,  yet  too  proud  to  acknowledge  that  her  friend, 
who  loved  her,  resented  the  neglect  of  her  husband. 

The  Countess's  attitude  towards  Edric  occupied  me 
too.  She  had  never  forgotten  her  suspicions  concern 
ing  Edric's  supposed  infatuation  for  the  Duchess,  and 
now  that  the  Duchess  found  the  Prince  so  frankly  com- 

171 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

panionable,  I  could  see  that  Amyce  believed  I  had  de 
ceived  her  and  that  Edric  really  had  come  to  Luxem 
bourg  for  love  of  the  unhappy  young  Duchess. 

The  general  misapprehensions,  the  growing  misun 
derstandings,  made  me  uncomfortable.  The  Duchess, 
in  her  desperate  desire  to  find  forgetfulness  for  her 
own  trouble,  was  innocently  involving  Edric  ;  the 
Duke  saw  everything,  and  his  cold  reserve  towards 
Edric  increased  until  I  understood  that  sooner  or 
later  something  unfortunate  was  certain  to  happen. 

That  Athel  of  Luxembourg  loved  his  wife  I  was 
convinced ;  that  he  felt  she  had  never  cared  for  him 
was  also  apparent.  Their  marriage  had  been  a  mar 
riage  of  expediency  for  dynastic  reasons,  a  passionless, 
political  bargain ;  and  between  two  sensitive  young 
people,  who,  after  the  moral  degradation  of  such  a 
union,  shrank  from  keeping  up  the  farce,  there  could 
be  nothing  intimate,  nothing  of  confidence,  nothing 
except  a  mutual  reserve  and  distrust,  if  not  resent 
ment.  They  had  carried  out  their  part  of  the  bargain ; 
being  young  and  sensitive,  they  felt  the  shame  of  it. 
And  now,  to  further  distress  them,  they  had,  after  a 
years  marriage,  fallen  so  deeply  in  love  with  each 
other  that  each  suspected  the  other's  pity  and  con 
tempt,  and  neither  dared  hope  for  more  than  tolera 
tion  in  their  unhappy  and  ignoble  partnership. 

So  the  week  passed  in  an  atmosphere  unpleasantly 
ominous,  until  even  Bettina  felt  the  oppression,  and 
took  long,  silent  promenades  with  Elic  around  the 
park  wall  in  search  of  grasshoppers — the  only  game 
that  Flic  was  allowed  to  chase. 

On  Sunday  there  was  early  mass,  attended  in 
state  by  the  court;  eight-o'clock  mass;  service  with 

172 


CONSPIRACY 

sermon  at  eleven;  and,  at  four,  vespers.  It  is  won 
derful  how  devoutly  the  devout  can  dwell  together 
in  discord. 

On  Monday,  shortly  after  morning  coffee  had  been 
served,  a  telegram  was  handed  to  the  Duke  from  his 
Excellency,  warning  us  that  the  garrison  at  Luxem 
bourg  was  being  tampered  with  by  foreign  agents. 

About  ten  o'clock  the  Duke,  in  full  uniform,  fol 
lowed  by  his  good  old  adjutant,  Colonel  de  Euyter, 
and  by  me,  gathered  at  the  gate  booted  and  spurred, 
ready  to  ride  to  the  railway  station. 

My  tight  crimson  uniform  and  steel -bound  flat 
shako  made  me  feel  strange  and  suspicious  ;  I  dread 
ed  to  encounter  the  eyes  of  the  Countess,  although 
Bettina,  bless  her  heart,  declared  it  the  most  beauti 
ful  uniform  in  the  world — which,  after  all,  was  her 
world,  and  included  nearly  the  entire  Duchy  of  Lux 
embourg. 

The  Duchess,  standing  on  the  terrace,  returned  her 
husband's  ceremonious  salute  without  a  word.  Her 
lovely  eyes  were  hard  and  bright,  but  in  either  cheek 
the  pale  colour  spread  to  her  white  neck.  What  a 
silly  pair  they  were  ! 

"  Bring  me  back  something,"  cried  Bettina,  as  I 
rode  past  the  terrace  wall,  mastering  my  nervous 
black  horse  with  difficulty. 

"What  has  he  worth  your  asking  ?"  said  the  Coun 
tess,  covering  her  thrust  under  a  gay  laugh  ;  "noth 
ing  is  worth  the  price  men  pay  at  Vanity  Fair  \" 

So  I  set  my  teeth  and  galloped  on  after  his  High 
ness,  who,  with  Colonel  De  Ruyter,  was  already  kick 
ing  up  the  dust  beyond  the  third  gate. 

We  found  a  locomotive,  a  box  -  stall  car,  and  an 
173 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

American  drawing-room  car  awaiting  us  at  the  little 
wooden  station.  It  was  the  Duke's  "special  train," 
always  side-tracked  there,  steam  up.  A  dozen  grooms, 
in  light-green  and  gold  livery,  embarked  our  horses  in 
the  box-stall  car ;  we  entered  the  drawing-room  car, 
the  engineer  blew  a  gay  blast  from  his  whistle,  the 
flunkies  stood  in  line,  hats  off,  and  away  we  went, 
faster,  faster,  until  the  fringing  forest  was  a  running 
streak  of  green  through  storms  of  dust  and  gravel 
whirling  upward. 

"  We'll  be  there  in  an  hour,"  said  the  Duke,  light 
ing  his  cigar ;  "we  are  going  a  mile  in  two  minutes." 
He  made  a  gesture  as  though  shaking  a  weight  from 
his  broad  shoulders. 

Black  Care  rides  behind  the  horseman  ;  the  en 
gineer  opens  the  throttle,  but  Black  Care  flags  the 
train. 

The  Duke  swung  about  in  his  revolving  arm-chair, 
and  looked  mischievously  at  De  Ruyter,  who  sat 
twisting  his  white  moustache  in  moody  reverie. 

"  Come,"  he  said,  "  don't  take  things  so  hard. 
Suppose  the  German  agents  have  bribed  a  dozen 
stupid  soldiers  to  shout,  'Iloch  dem  Kaiser!'" 

"  Dead  soldiers  are  no  longer  stupid,"  said  De 
Ruyter,  grimly. 

"Nonsense,"  laughed  the  Duke;  "I'll  have  no 
tragedies  in  my  army.  I'll  have  them  soundly  spanked 
and  sent  home  to  their  mothers — those  soldiers  who 
prefer  his  Majesty  to  me.  Voila,  tout  !" 

"I  never  trusted  Toxe,"  said  De  Ruyter,  dryly, 
"nor  Latrille." 

I  had  heard  about  Toxe  and  Latrille,  two  Alsatian 
officers  in  the  sole  regiment  which  constituted  the 

174 


CONSPIRACY 

Grand  Duke's  army.  I  had  not  yet  met  these  gentle 
men,  so  when  De  Ruyter  glanced  at  me  for  an  indorse 
ment  I  remained  silent. 

"  Colonel  Toxe  is  an  able  officer,"  said  the  Duke, 
gravely;  "Major  Latrille  has  discharged  his  duties 
with  perfect  correctness.  I  have  no  cause  for  the 
slightest  suspicion  against  those  two  officers." 

De  Ruyter,  head  bent,  still  worrying  his  moustache, 
said  nothing  in  reply,  and,  after  a  moment,  the  Duke 
turned  to  me  : 

"We'll  be  back  by  mid-day,"  he  said.  "I've  told 
the  under  forester  to  have  the  beaters  at  the  first 
carrefour  by  one  o'clock.  I  tell  you,  I'm  going  to 
clean  out  those  wolves  before  they  do  any  more  deer- 
killing." 

That  his  Highness's  mind  should  be  occupied  with 
details  for  a  wolf-drive  when  affairs  in  Luxembourg 
appeared  almost  sinister  disappointed  me.  I  saw  old 
De  Ruyter's  face  grow  darker  as  the  Duke  went  on, 
pleasantly  : 

"I  have  asked  the  Countess  to  drive  you  down  ; 
Bettina  will  drive  me." 

"But,"  I  blurted  out,  "  there  will  be  no  time  for 
a  wolf-drive  this  afternoon." 

"  Rubbish  !  This  Luxembourg  business  will  not 
take  us  twenty  minutes." 

There  was  nothing  further  for  me  to  say.  I  lay 
back,  smoking  gloomily,  scarcely  enchanted  by  the 
prospect  of  a  tete-a-tete  drive  with  the  Countess 
Amyce.  For  I  was  becoming  tired  of  the  constant 
strife,  the  veiled  distrust,  the  open  enmity. 

Dissimulation  weaned  me;  the  hopeless  struggle 
against  her  prejudice  and  scorn  began  to  have  an  effect 

175 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

that  surprised  me  at  times,  and  that  effect  was  a  feel 
ing  towards  her  dangerously  akin  to  indifference.  For 
I  had  tired  of  hope  as  a  steady  diet.  Hope  is  the  bread 
of  the  unhappy,  but  the  devil  also  bakes  that  sort  of 
dough,  and  his  customers  die  of  hunger. 

"I  don't  see/''  said  the  Duke,  irritably,  "why  you 
and  De  Ruyter  should  look  like  funeral  directors." 

"  For  a  mourning  ceremony  your  Highness  would 
make  an  invaluable  centre-piece,"  I  said,  frankly. 

"  Do  I  look  that  way,  too  ?"  he  asked,  reddening. 
"  Well,  it's  not  the  army  that  worries  me,  gentlemen/' 

"Nor  the  wolves,  either,"  I  said. 

We  looked  straight  into  each  other's  eyes.  He  rose 
and  started  towards  the  platform,  and  I,  suddenly  re 
solved,  sprang  up  and  joined  him. 

He  looked  back  over  his  shoulder  ;  it  was  an  evil 
glance  he  gave  me,  but  I  followed  him  out  onto  the 
vestibule  platform  and  closed  the  car  door  behind  us. 
Then  I  asked  permission  to  speak  on  matters  concern 
ing  the  whole  nation  ;  and  again  he  looked  me  straight 
in  the  eyes,  neither  consenting  nor  refusing  permission. 

"  If  your  Highness  regards  me,"  I  said,  bitterly, 
"  as  a  meddler  or  an  impertinent,  then  there  is  nothing 
to  be  said." 

His  youthful  face  changed  ;  he  touched  his  droop 
ing  mustache,  and  said :  "  I  have  already  come  to 
look  upon  you  as  a  brother  officer." 

The  reproof  was  so  gentle,  so  manly,  and  yet  so  un 
mistakable,  that  I  could  only  bow  in  silence.  Clearly 
he  would  brook  no  interference  in  his  private  affairs, 
and  he  was,  perhaps,  right ;  although  it  concerned  the 
whole  nation  that  their  Duke  and  Duchess  should  at 
least  attempt  to  understand  each  other.  If  somebody 

176 


CONSPIRACY 

could  only  have  taken  him  by  those  broad  shoulders 
and  shaken  him,  and  said:  "You  infernal  idiot! 
Your  wife  is  in  love  with  you — !" 

I  went  back  into  the  car,  where  old  De  Ruyter  sat 
hunched  up  in  his  chair,  nursing  his  spurred  boots  and 
muttering,  and  there  we  smoked  in  silence  until  the 
train  slowed  up  and  stopped  at  the  Luxembourg  sta 
tion;  and  we  followed  the  Duke  to  the  platform, 
where,  in  a  minute  or  two,  our  horses  were  brought 
around. 

We  mounted  and  rode  out  across  the  railway,  tra 
versed  the  viaduct  at  a  gallop,  and  made  straight  for 
the  barracks,  followed  by  an  increasing  crowd  of  cu 
rious  citizens. 

The  sentinels  at  the  gates  hurriedly  called  out  the 
guard,  the  gate-house  swarmed,  the  guard-house  vi 
brated  with  the  roll  of  drums.  I,  following  close  be 
hind  his  Highness,  caught  a  glimpse  of  flags  dipping  in 
salutes,  of  long  rows  of  glittering  rifle-barrels,  of  sabres 
raised ;  then  we  dashed  into  the  vast  gravel  parade, 
and  drew  bridles  amid  a  whirlwind  of  dust. 

The  regiment  was  at  drill,  field  and  staff  mounted, 
when  we  entered  the  parade,  and  our  somewhat  sud 
den  if  not  dramatic  appearance  disconcerted  the 
colonel.  The  moment  I  saw  him  I  distrusted  him. 
He  came  up  to  pay  his  respects  to  the  Duke,  followed 
by  Major  Latrille,  both  superbly  mounted. 

Toxe,  a  square-faced,  hard-eyed  man,  frightfully 
pitted  with  small-pox  scars,  acquitted  himself  with 
the  precision  and  brusque,  snappy  deportment  of  a 
Prussian ;  and  although  his  name  was  French  and  his 
nationality  Alsatian,  I  never  saw  a  more  unmistakable 
Prussian  in  all  my  life. 

M  177 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

To  me  he  was  polite,  precise,  and  alert,  yet  under 
it  all  I  felt  the  sinister  sneer  of  a  foreigner  who, 
though  his  own  conscience  may  be  clear,  suspects  evil 
in  others. 

As  for  his  major,  Latrille,  I  disliked  him  as  spon 
taneously  as  I  had  his  superior.  He  was  very  young, 
very  soft,  and  highly  coloured,  with  a  weak  mustache 
calling  attention  to  a  weaker  mouth  and  chin.  Be 
sides,  he  had  eyes  that,  in  a  woman,  would  have  been 
beautiful — great  velvety  blue  eyes,  heavily  shaded  by 
curling  lashes.  And  never  once  during  our  interview 
did  he  look  anybody  but  Toxe  in  the  face. 

What  the  Duke  said  to  Toxe  I  couldn't  hear,  for 
they  sat  on  their  horses,  apart.  Presently,  however, 
at  a  gesture  from  his  Highness,  I,  followed  by  Latrille, 
Toxe,  and  De  Ruyter,  fell  in  behind  him,  and  we 
rode  across  the  parade  and  dismounted  at  the  officers' 
quarters. 

Meanwhile  the  regiment  had  been  drawn  up  for  in 
spection,  and  Giroux  also  had  arrived  with  a  com 
pany  of  gendarmes,  which  proceeding  was  viewed 
with  uneasiness  by  Latrille  and  Toxe,  and  probably 
by  more  than  half  of  the  troops  under  arms. 

At  a  sharp  order  from  the  Duke  himself,  who  ad 
vanced  on  foot,  accompanied  by  Toxe,  Giroux,  and  by 
me,  the  troops  unslung  knapsacks,  each  soldier  de 
positing  his  pack,  unstrapped  and  open  for  inspection, 
at  his  feet. 

The  Duke  passed  slowly  along  the  rigid  lines,  not 
noticing  the  open  knapsacks,  but  scanning  the  visage 
of  each  soldier  with  keen,  relentless  eyes. 

Suddenly  he  stopped  short  in  front  of  one  young 
sergeant,  who  promptly  turned  white  as  a  sheet. 

178 


CONSPIRACY 

' '  Search  !"  said  the  Duke ;  and  Giroux  bent  down 
and  rummaged  in  the  knapsack,  flinging  woollen 
socks,  shirts,  and  cap-covers  about  until  he  found 
what  he  had  been  looking  for — a  sheet  of  paper, 
printed  in  Flemish,  French,  and  German.  Toxe  bit 
his  thick  underlip,  but  stood  rigid  as  a  post ;  Giroux, 
red  and  perspiring,  handed  the  circular  to  me ;  and, 
as  I  took  it,  I  saw  at  a  glance  what  it  was — an  appeal 
to  the  people  to  rise  and  overthrow  the  government 
and  shout  for  his  consecrated  Majesty,  William  the 
Sudden. 

"  Fall  out !"  said  the  Duke,  in  a  passionless  voice. 

The  miserable  soldier  stepped  from  the  ranks ;  a 
movement  like  a  shudder  passed  through  the  long 
lines. 

Then  his  Highness  turned  and  spoke  to  the  regi 
ment  quietly,  not  raising  his  voice  ;  but  every  word 
was  perfectly  distinct  in  the  still  air,  and  every  soldier 
there  heard  : 

"  Soldiers !  If  the  treason  among  you  were  pro 
portionate  to  your  stupidity,  the  nation  might  justly 
be  alarmed.  But  nothing  can  equal  your  stupidity; 
the  nation  is  safe." 

He  turned  to  Giroux  : 

"Send  this  boy  to  his  mother  for  corporal  punish 
ment." 

The  silence  was  deathly. 

"Have  you  a  mother,  Colonel  Toxe  ?"  asked  the 
Duke,  in  amiable  tones. 

Toxe's  scarred  face  grew  so  hideously  livid  that  for 
a  second  I  gripped  my  sabre-hilt  and  ceased  breath 
ing. 

With  a  good-humoured  gesture  and  a  shrug  of  dis- 
179 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

dain  the  Duke  signalled  for  our  horses,  and  we 
mounted,  our  equipments  jangling  harshly  through 
the  stillness.  His  Highness  wheeled  his  horse,  de 
liberately  turning  his  back  on  the  regiment  and  it's 
colonel,  and  away  we  galloped  amid  a  profound  silence, 
broken  only  by  the  stroke  of  steel  hoofs  on  the  peb 
bled  parade. 

Our  entrance  had  been  dramatic,  our  exit  theatrical. 
De  Ruyter  drove  his  gray  charger  up  beside  me  and 
muttered : 

"It  was  done  like  a  king,  or  a  fool — nobly.  And 
God  knows  there  is  no  nobility  like  a  fool's." 

"His  contempt  is  royal,"  I  answered;  "his  im 
prudence  unsoldierly.  If  I  wasn't  a  fool  myself  I'd 
resign." 

a  \ye're  both  fools,"  said  old  De  Ruyter,  with  a  sad 
smile,  "so  we'll  hang  on  to  the  end."  Then  his  face 
turned  grayer  and  fiercer,  and  he  struck  the  pommel 
of  his  saddle  with  open  fist : 

"I'd  shoot  every  traitor  if  it  meant  annihilation  to 
the  whole  army !"  he  muttered  through  his  set  teeth. 

His  Highness,  galloping  ahead,  looked  back,  laugh 
ing. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
THE  WOLF-DRIVE 

Describing  an  unwilling  journey  and  an  empty  pageant,  wherein 
the  Countess  loses  a  cup  and  a  ring,  and  I  defend  a  friend 

As  his  Highness  predicted,  we  had  plenty  of  time 
for  our  wolf-drive,  which,  after  all,  did  not  amount  to 
much,  as  it  was  to  be  confined  to  the  extermination  of 
the  few  marauding  wolves  which  had  penetrated  the 
preserve. 

Osborne,  who  joined  us  at  the  Luxembourg  Railway 
Station,  brought  to  our  little  party  the  only  flicker 
of  gaiety  that  had  illumined  the  chateau  for  days. 
His  cordial  welcome  by  the  Duchess  and  the  Countess 
of  "VVilverwiltz  revealed  to  me  his  popularity  in  Lux 
embourg,  a  fact  I  had  not  previously  been  aware  of ; 
and  I  told  him  so. 

"Why,"  he  said,  "popularity  is  part  of  my  pro 
fession  \" 

"Ugh — a  politician'/'  I  answered.  "You're  wel 
come  to  your  popularity,  Victor.  It's  no  miracle  you're 
loved." 

"My  son,"  he  replied,  cynically,  "there  are  no 
miracles  in  politics ;  and  politicians  never  love  nor 
hate." 

"Which  appears  to  me  contemptible,"  I  said. 

"Wrong,  Gilbert;  in  politics  and  diplomacy  noth 
ing  is  contemptible.  It's  a  dirty  profession,  created 

181 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

to  lawfully  satisfy  the  natural  vices  of  honourable 
men." 

He  was  half  in  jest,  half  in  earnest,  but  his  banter 
annoyed  me,  especially  as  I  noticed  Bettina's  undis 
guised  preference  for  his  society. 

"Come  with  us,  Mr.  Osborne,"  she  said,  driving  her 
dog-cart  across  the  lawn  to  the  bench  where  we  sat ; 
so  Osborne  picked  up  his  gun-case  and  climbed  to  the 
back  seat,  laughing,  and  the  Duke  pretended  to  be 
very  jealous  of  his  intrusion,  which  made  Bettina  turn 
her  head  so  far  around  that  I  could  only  see  the  tip  of 
one  reddening  little  ear. 

"  Rendezvous  at  the  first  carrefour  !"  called  out 
the  Duke,  and  away  they  went,  followed  by  the 
Duchess,  driving  Prince  Edric  in  a  tilbury,  escorted 
by  two  mounted  piqueurs  blazing  with  gold  and 
green. 

His  Highness  had  understood  that  his  young  wife 
did  not  desire  to  go,  and  he  was  somewhat  taken  by 
surprise  when,  on  our  return  from  Luxembourg,  he 
found  that  she  had  invited  Edric  to  drive  to  the  hunt 
with  her.  The  Duchess,  too,  was  surprised  and  an 
noyed  when  the  two  piqueurs  galloped  up  as  her  escort, 
unsolicited  ;  for  this  was  an  informal  wolf -drive,  and 
the  piqueurs  were  not  necessary.  But  she  only  smiled 
her  thanks  to  his  Highness  and  nodded  brightly  to  the 
Grand  Veneur,  Raoul  Lartigues,  who  swept  the  scal 
loped  saddle-cloth  with  his  gold  cap,  and  bent  his 
white  head  to  his  horse's  mane. 

"  Are  you  not  coming  ?"  asked  the  Duchess,  lean 
ing  from  her  seat  and  questioning  me  with  clear  sweet 
eyes. 

"  Mon  Dieu,  madame,"  I  replied,  embarrassed,  "the 
182 


THE    WOLF-DRIVE 

Countess  of  Wilverwiltz  does  not  care  to  attend  the 
drive." 

"But  I  wish  it!"  said  the  Duchess,  surprised  and 
hurt.  "Surely  the  Countess  of  Wilverwiltz  can  do 
this  for  me." 

The  Countess,  who  was  standing  on  the  other  side  of 
the  tandem,  opened  her  flame-coloured  sunshade  with 
a  little  snap  that  made  the  wheeler  dance  until  the 
groom  pulled  him  down. 

"If  you  wish  me  to  go,"  she  said,  "I  should  be 
very  glad  to ;  I  merely  thought  the  party  was  com 
plete." 

"Without  Lieutenant  Hardy!"  exclaimed  the 
Duchess. 

"  Oh,"  said  the  Countess,  "I  am  so  shockingly  ab 
sent-minded  to  forget  Monsieur  Hardy  !" 

It  was  not  very  cleverly  turned  ;  it  was  unworthy 
of  a  clever  woman.  She  knew  it  and  hated  me  for  it. 

But  I  was  tired  of  innuendoes  and  hidden  conflicts, 
which  not  only  wearied  me  but  brought  also  a  feeling 
of  incipient  contempt  for  us  both  ;  so  I  said  : 

"  I  do  not  think  the  Countess  of  Wilverwiltz  forgot 
me  ;  I  think  she  does  not  care  to  drive  with  me." 

The  sincerity  of  my  voice  was  unmistakable;  the 
Duchess  looked  gravely  at  me ;  the  Countess,  taken 
by  surprise,  turned  rosy  from  neck  to  forehead — 
unless  it  was  the  crimson  light  from  her  sunshade. 

"That  is  absurd!"  she  murmured.  "I  will  drive 
Monsieur  Hardy  very  willingly  to  the  hunt." 

The  Duchess  brightened  at  once  and  flung  her 
whip-lash  out  towards  the  leader ;  Edric  waved  his 
hand  to  me  with  an  amused  twinkle  in  his  eyes ;  the 
grooms  let  go  the  horses'  heads,  and  the  tandem 

183 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

swung  out  into  the  Wiltz  road,  leaving  the  Conntess 
standing  on  the  grass,  facing  me. 

"If  you  do  not  care  to  go,"  I  said,  "it  will  not 
disappoint  me  in  the  least/' 

"  Do  you  suppose  I  go  to  avoid  disappointing  you?" 
she  asked. 

"  I  know  nothing  about  your  reasons  or  your  ca 
prices,"  I  answered.  "  I  only  know  that  I  am  not  going 
to  the  wolf-drive — and  I  beg  permission  to  take  leave 
of  the  Countess  of  Wilverwiltz." 

"  Pardon/7  she  interposed,  icily  ;  "  it  will  be  a  sub 
ject  of  unpleasant  comment  if  I  do  not  drive  you  to 
the  hunt." 

"  Unpleasant  for  you  ?" 

"Yes." 

"Then,"  I  replied,  smiling,  "I  accept  your  in 
vitation  to  drive  —  without  the  slightest  pleasure,  I 
assure  you." 

The  situation  began  to  have  its  charms  for  me ;  I 
felt  that  I  was  fast  losing  any  tenderness  I  might  have 
had  for  the  capricious  young  lady  who  stood  there 
twirling  her  fire-tinted  open  sunshade  and  patting  the 
turf  impatiently  with  her  pointed  polished  shoe-tips. 
What  did  I  care  if  only  I  might  be  free  from  the 
slavery  of  a  love  that,  after  all,  had  never  been  any 
thing  to  me  but  misery,  mortification,  and  chagrin  ? 
Once  able  to  contemplate  that  rounded  yet  slender 
figure  in  white  muslin,  once  prepared  to  meet  those 
dark -lashed  eyes  without  emotion,  what  would  I  care 
for  her  hate  ? 

I  knew,  moreover,  that  now  there  was  a  new  ring 
of  confidence  in  my  voice,  a  ring  long  absent.  I 
felt  self-respect  reviving,  too,  and  with  self-respect 

184 


THE    WOLF-DRIVE 

came  courage  and  the  first  faint  emotion  of  indepen 
dence. 

"  We'll  make  the  drive  as  agreeable  as  possible,"  I 
said.  "I  shall  not  attempt  conversation." 

"I  shall  —  if  it  should  please  me,"  she  observed, 
stepping  forward  as  the  dog-cart  was  brought  up 
under  the  trees. 

A  moment  later,  side  by  side,  we  were  driving  through 
the  forest,  a  groom  galloping  discreetly  in  the  rear. 

"  Oh,"  she  said,  with  a  soft  little  sigh,  as  we  en 
tered  the  Saint-Yssel  road,  "if  you  could  only  under 
stand  how  I  hate  you." 

"  I  do,"  I  said,  earnestly ;  "  but  I  am  beginning  not 
to  care." 

' '  Not  to  care  ?"  she  repeated,  looking  around  at 
me.  "Oh,  but  you  do  care  !  And  it's  such  a  com 
fort  to  hate  so  deeply,  so  passionately,  so  constantly. 
I  never  before  hated  anybody  ;  it  is  a  new  sensation — 
and  so  sweet,  so  delicious  !" 

"I  know,"  I  said,  sympathetically.  "I  loved  you, 
too,  that  way." 

Her  pretty  underlip  whitened  between  her  white 
teeth ;  she  launched  a  nervous  cut  of  the  whip  at  an 
overhanging  bough  ;  a  shower  of  yellow  leaves  covered 
our  shoulders  and  knees. 

"Let  us  talk  about  hate," she  said  ;  "tell  me  about 
it !  I  never  knew  the  pleasures  of  hatred  before  I 
met  you  !" 

"  It  is  something  like  love,"  I  said,  maliciously. 
"Hate,  like  love,  is  blind;  the  course  of  true  hate 
never  did  run  smooth. 

"  'Sweet  is  true  bate,  tho'  given  in  vain — '" 

185 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"  Pray  proceed,  monsieur/7  she  said,  looking  very 
hard  at  the  horses7  ears,  and  I  recited,  solemnly  : 

"  'But  hate  is  blind  and  haters  cannot  see 
The  pretty  follies  that  themselves  commit.'" 

<l  I  think  I  must  call  you  the  proverbial  pilgrim," 
she  said,  with  heightened  colour ;  "  you  are  more  tire- 
somely  omniscient  than  your  worst  enemy  could  wish." 

I  was  silent  so  long  that  she  looked  around  again. 

"  Of  what  are  you  thinking  ?"  she  asked,  disdain 
fully. 

"  Of  eyes,"  I  replied. 

"You  are  strangely  stupid,"  she  observed,  yet  I 
saw  she  was  curious,  so  I  said  nothing. 

"  Eyes  ?"  she  asked  again,  after  the  silence  had 
displeased  her  long  enough.  I  did  not  answer. 

"  What  were  you  thinking  about  eyes  ?"  she  per 
sisted,  impatiently. 

"  About  their  language,77  I  replied  ;  "  it  could  not 
interest  you." 

"  It  might,"  she  said.  "  Please  continue  when  I 
ask  you." 

So  I  said  :  "  Blue  eyes  say  :  '  Love  me  or  I  die ;' 
black  eyes  say  :  '  Love  me  or  you  die.7  77 

The  next  moment  she  cut  the  horse  across  his  flanks, 
not  very  hard,  and  we  flew  forward  into  the  carre- 
four,  where  already  the  others  were  assembled,  and 
the  under  forester  stood  giving  his  last  directions  to 
the  gun-bearers. 

I  aided  the  Countess  Amyce  to  the  square  strip  of 
turf ;  she  thanked  me  and  started  to  join  the  Duch 
ess,  but  the  Duke  cried :  "  No  !  no  !  It7s  to  be  a 
ladies7  drive  for  the  cup  !  Choose  your  forester, 

186 


THE    WOLF-DRIVE 

Lieutenant  Hardy  !    Lartigues'  horns  will  sound  the 
death  from  the  carrefour." 

"Another  hour  together!"  I  said,  looking  mis 
chievously  at  the  Countess.  "  Can  you  stand  it  ?" 

"  For  the  cup,  yes.  I  am  fond  of  winning  prizes," 
she  replied,  serenely. 

I  chose  the  forester,  Villon,  and  he  promptly  sa 
luted  the  Countess,  and  brought  her  a  dainty  little 
rifle  which  looked  like  a  toy  beside  my  Winchester. 

Then,  bearing  her  rifle  and  his  own  —  for  I  pre 
ferred  always  to  carry  my  own  guns — the  big  bushy- 
bearded  forester  set  off,  followed  by  the  Countess 
and  by  me  in  single  file. 

"Health  to  the  hunters  I"  cried  the  Duchess,  pass 
ing  with  Edric  and  another  forester,  and  the  chasse- 
salute  rang  out  merrily  as  each  cavalier  escorted  his 
fair  huntress  to  the  particular  runway  assigned. 

I  saw  the  Duke  turn  and  look  after  the  Duchess, 
and  there  was  something  in  that  look  that  gave  me 
hope  for  the  future — if  only  the  Duchess  could  have 
turned  and  seen  it.  But  she  did  not;  Edric  was 
bending  close  to  her  shoulder.  I  heard  her  pretty, 
tired  little  laugh,  mirthless  and  sad,  and  the  Duke 
heard  it  too,  and  stood  still,  his  serious  young  head 
lowered,  hands  clasped  behind  his  back. 

"  Good-bye  !"  called  Bettina  to  him,  walking  ahead 
with  Osborne.  His  Highness  raised  his  eyes,  and 
motioned  them  to  wait  for  him.  So  he  lost  his 
chance  to  go  with  his  wife. 

"What  a  fool  is  a  man  in  love,"  I  thought,  never 
applying  the  axiom  to  myself. 

"If  you  are  ready,  monsieur  the  proverbial  pil 
grim  ?"  suggested  the  Countess  Amyce,  carelessly. 

187 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

Our  runway  was  not  far  from  the  carrefour,  per 
haps  ten  minutes'  easy  walk  over  the  leaf -strewn 
springy  path,  then  up  a  rocky  gorge.  The  forester, 
Villon,  walked  ahead ;  there  was  just  room  for  two 
abreast  on  the  woodland  path,  so  I  stepped  to  the  side 
of  the  Countess. 

" Shall  we  speak  of  hate,"  I  asked — "the  hate  that 
makes  the  world  go  round  ?" 

She  laughed  and  made  a  gesture  towards  the  forester: 

"  '  Chasseur,  je  connais  cette  histoire  ; 
Je  ne  veux  pas  perdre  mon  temps — ' " 

she  sang,  in  a  deliciously  sweet  and  childlike  voice 
— a  voice  that  had  in  it  that  golden,  melodious  grace- 
note  peculiar  to  thrushes  and  children. 

"  Sing,  then,"  I  said,  as  she  turned  laughingly  tow 
ards  me. 

"  With  pleasure — for  my  own  pleasure,"  she  said  ; 
"  not  for  yours  : 

"'Tant  qu'on  le  pourra, 
L'on  trinquera, 
Chantera, 
Aimera, 
La  fillette 

Tant  qu'on  le  pourra,  larirette, 
On  se  damnera,  larira  !' " 

And  she  sang  that  reckless,  questionable  chorus  in 
the  voice  of  an  angel,  and  with  an  innocent  simplicity 
that  made  an  impossible  verse  exquisite  and  charming. 
Now  yon  are  shocked,"  she  said,  "and  I  don't 


t( 


"  Yon  would  if  I  were,"  I  replied. 

188 


THE    WOLF-DKIVE 

"  No,  I  wouldn't  I"  she  cried.  "  You  may  have  what 
opinion  you  choose  of  me." 

"  Like  the  episode  of  the  cat  and  the  king,"  I  sug 
gested. 

"Exactly.  What  does  the  king  care  how  long  the 
cat  may  stare  ?"  Arid  with  a  reckless  little  toss  of  her 
head  she  carolled  on,  careless,  disdainful : 

"  'Dieu  lui-mSme, 

Ordonne  qu'on  aime 
Je  vous  le  dis  en  verite  ; 
Sauvez-vous  par  la  charite."' 

Ahead  of  us  Villon,  the  forester,  was  standing  still, 
unslinging  the  guns.  The  young  Countess  sprang  to 
the  mossy  hillock  beside  him  and  knelt  down,  watch 
ing  the  slim  cartridges  follow  each  other  into  the 
magazine.  After  that  it  was  a  long,  silent  wait,  sit 
ting  there,  rifles  on  our  knees,  listening  for  the  first 
crackle  in  the  underbrush  or  the  first  faint  halloo 
from  the  beaters.  The  Countess  and  I  sat  close  to 
gether,  our  backs  resting  against  the  broad  trunk  of  a 
dappled  beech,  our  feet  pointed  towards  the  path  be 
low.  Villon  squatted  on  his  haunches  a  dozen  yards 
behind  us. 

"  Je  m'ennui,"  she  said,  frankly,  after  half  an  hour 
had  passed  in  absolute  silence. 

"  I  also/7  I  responded. 

"  You  are  not  gallant  to  say  so,"  she  said,  quickly. 

' '  Have  your  enemies  any  virtues  at  all  ?"  I  asked. 

"  Some  have  intelligence,  some  are  gay,"  she  re 
plied,  smiling  adorably. 

"Well,"  said  I,  "one  should  beware  of  a  laughing 
enemy.  Are  you  on  guard  ?" 

189 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"  Garde  a  vous !"  she  replied,  "  et  allez,  monsieur  !" 

"No,"  I  insisted;  "you  begin." 

"Very  well/'  she  said,  suddenly,  and  looking  me 
unblushingly  in  the  face,  she  asked  me  where  the  ring 
was. 

"  What  ring  ?"  I  asked,  giving  ground. 

"  That  is  cowardly,"  she  retorted.  "I  ask  you  for 
the  ring  I  gave  you  in  prison." 

"Then  first  tell  me  where  you  found  that  ring," 
said  I.  "It  was  not  yours  to  give,  either." 

"  I  know  it,"  she  said,  surprised;  "it  was  not  my 
ring.  I  made  a  mistake  in  the  dark  there ;  I  meant  to 
give  you  this."  And  she  held  one  hand  up  and  lifted 
the  delicate  middle  finger.  On  it  was  a  turquoise  and 
diamond  ring. 

"  May  I  have  it  now  ?"  I  asked,  with  a  sublime  im 
pudence  that  disarmed  her  quick  anger. 

"You  almost  deserve  it  —  for  teaching  me  the 
pleasures  of  hatred,"  she  said.  After  a  moment, 
half  thoughtlessly,  she  began  to  turn  it  round  and 
round  on  her  white  finger. 

"  I  think  I  have  earned  it,"  I  said,  bending  nearer. 

There  was  a  faint  smile  in  the  corners  of  her  mouth  ; 
impulsively  she  drew  the  ring  to  the  rosy  tip  of  her 
finger,  then  looked  at  me. 

"  Do  you  want  it  ?" 

"  Yes,"  said  I,  and  quietly  took  it  before  she  could 
resist. 

Her  first  sentiment  was  anger — I  saw  it  in  her  eyes. 
Surprise,  renewed  anger,  and  then  amusement  fol 
lowed.  I  noted  them  all. 

"  When  you  have  satisfied  your  curiosity — "  she 
said,  indifferently. 

190 


THE    WOLF-DRIVE 

"  When  I  have,"  said  I,  "  the  ring  shall  be  returned 
to  yon." 

"  And,  in  the  meanwhile,  will  you  tell  me  what  you 
have  done  with  the  other  ring  ?" 

"  When  you  tell  me  where  you  found  it,"  I  replied. 

"I  don't  know  how  you  know  the  ring  did  not  be 
long  to  me,"  she  said,  "  but  it  did  not ;  it  was  found 
by  the  Duke  in  the  road  near  Van  Tassel's  lodge, 
nearly  a  year  ago.  The  Duchess  kept  it  in  one  of  her 
jewel-boxes,  and  one  day  I  put  it  on— the  very  day  that 
I  heard  from  Giroux  that  you,  or,  as  I  supposed,  Prince 
Edric,  had  been  held  in  prison  for  the  Emperor's 
agents.  I  forgot  I  had  it  on — that  is  how  you  came 
to  receive  it." 

"But,"  said  I,  "that  ring  does  not  belong  to  the 
Duchess  either." 

The  Countess  looked  up  at  me  in  amazement. 

"How  do  you  know  ?"  she  said. 

"Is  it  not  true  ?"  I  persisted. 

"  Yes,"  she  admitted  ;  "  the  real  owner  of  the  ring 
has  been  discovered.  Perhaps,"  she  added,  maliciously, 
"you  know  who  it  is  ?" 

"Perhaps  I  do/'  I  replied,  cautiously. 

"  Well,  then,  it  belongs  to  the  little  Queen  of  Hol 
land,"  she  said ;  "and  did  you  know  that,  most  wise 
one  ?" 

"Oh  no,  it  doesn't,"  said  I,  laughing. 

"  But  it  does,"  she  persisted,  opening  her  eyes 
wider.  "Her  Majesty  sent  out  notices  of  the  loss  of 
the  ring  and  offered  all  kinds  of  rewards.  A  descrip 
tion  of  the  ring  caught  the  Duke's  eye  while  he  was 
reading  an  old  copy  of  L} Independence  Luxembour- 
ycoise.  That  is  the  reason  I  took  the  ring.  I  had  ex- 

191 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

pected  to  go  to  The  Hague  that  same  day,  and  I  was 
very  glad  to  think  I  could  bring  her  Majesty  the  ring. 
When  I  left  the  prison  I  was — a — a  little  disturbed — 
and  I  forgot  everything.  Then  came  the  diplomatic 
troubles  anew,  and  his  Excellency  returned  and  the 
Duke  decided  we  must  all  stay  at  Wilverwiltz.  It  was 
a  long  while  before  I  could  remember  what  I  had  done 
with  the  ring  ;  I  felt  sure  that  I  had  not  lost  it.  To 
day  it  occurred  to  me  that — that  perhaps  I  had  given 
it  to  you." 

"You  did,"  I  said,  quietly,  "  but  I  did  not  keep  it." 

"  You  did  not  keep  it !"  she  repeated,  in  a  voice  that 
betrayed  anxiety  —  and  something  else  :  a  woman's 
hurt  pride,  a  womanly  resentment  that  was  deliciously 
natural. 

"If,"  said  I,  "that  ring  had  been  yours,  I  should 
have  kept  it — until  you  asked  it  again." 

"  How  did  you  know  it  was  not  mine  ?" 

"Because  the  rightful  owner  claimed  it." 

"  Who  ?" 

"  Prince  Edric." 

"  But,  then,  he  must  have  given  it  to  the  Queen  of 
Holland  ?" 

"  He  never  saw  the  Queen  of  Holland,"  I  replied, 
laughing.  "  Her  charming  little  Majesty  is  mistaken 
— or  rather  you  mistake  the  ring." 

"  The  description  in  the  newspaper  was  exactly  that 
of  the  ring  I  gave  to  you/' 

"  Nevertheless,"  said  I,  "  the  Prince  is  not  mistaken 
— for  he  lost  it  exactly  where  it  was  found." 

That  seemed  to  settle  it ;  even  the  Countess  laugh 
ingly  admitted  as  much,  wondering  at  the  coincidence. 

"And  suppose  it  had  been  Prince  Edric  in  prison," 
192 


THE    WOLF-DRIVE 

she  said — "and  suppose  I  had  given  him  his  own 
ring  ?" 

We  both  laughed  quietly,  looking  at  each  other 
without  distrust — a  new  sensation  for  me,  and  one 
that  I  found  very  pleasant. 

"  Admit/'  I  said,  "  that  you  found  a  great  deal 
of  amusement  in  the  thought  of  impersonating  the 
Duchess — " 

"I  didn't!"  she  cried,  her  cheeks  hot  and  eyes 
bright. 

"  But  everybody  tells  me  you  are  exquisite  in  private 
theatricals,"  I  continued,  cruelly. 

"  If  I  acted  a  part — then — it  was  because  I  loved 
the  Duchess  well  enough  to  risk  it,"  she  said. 

"And  the  mischief  of  the  thing  didn't  appeal  to 
you  ?"  I  suggested. 

She  tried  to  look  serious ;  she  succeeded,  after  a 
fashion. 

"Anyway,"  she  said,  "I  distrusted  Prince Edric — 
and  I  was  right.  He  did  come  here  for  the  Duchess's 
sake,  and  he  does  make  love  to  her." 

( '  Nonsense  !"  I  said,  sharply. 

"He  does — he  is  with  her  continually!  And  more, 
too — I  don't  trust  him  politically,  and  I  have  told  the 
Duke." 

"That,"  said  I,  "is  the  crudest  insult  you  could 
offer  him.  Do  you  imagine  that  he  has  any  sympathy 
with  the  Emperor's  aims — the  Emperor  who  has  sent 
agents  to  watch  him — the  Emperor  who  has  refused 
his  sanction  to  a  marriage — " 

"  Dear  me,"  she  observed,  with  pity,  "are  you  really 
stupid  enough  to  credit  that  story  of  the  beautiful 
peasant  girl  ?" 

N  193 

I 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"  I  not  only  credit  it,"  I  said,  hotly,  "  but  I  affirm, 
on  my  honour,  that  it  is  true." 

"  And  who  told  you  ?" 

"  The  Prince  himself." 

She  laughed,  mockingly.  "If  you  trust  him  you 
will  be  as  foolish  as  I  once  thought  you.  You  are  no 
diplomat,  you  are  only  a  soldier,  and  a  very  innocent 
one  at  that.  Suppose  I  should  tell  you  that  I  have 
proof  that  Edric  is  here  for  political  reasons.  Suppose 
I  should  say  that,  in  a  week,  I  shall  have  absolute 
proof  that  his  presence  is  a  danger  to  the  Duke,  the 
dynasty,  and  the  independence  of  Luxembourg  ?" 

"  I  should  not  believe  it,"  I  replied,  simply. 

"Very  well,"  she  retorted,  "  I  shall  have  the  proof  ; 
and  when  I  do  that  man  must  leave." 

"You  seem  to  be  very  fond  of  exiling  people,"  I 
observed.  The  next  moment  I  was  sorry  ;  she  flushed 
painfully  ;  her  hurt  face  was  raised  to  mine  with  a 
look  of  reproach  that  I  shall  not  forget. 

"  I  love  the  Duchess  and  I  love  my  country,"  she 
said.  "A  man  who  threatens  the  future  of  both  I  shall 
not  spare." 

"  You  will  find  out  your  mistake,"  I  replied,  gen 
tly;  "you  will  also  learn  to  discredit  the  lies  of  Ger 
man  spies.  Don't  look  startled.  I  saw  you  talking  to 
that  villanous  old  creature,  Vossburg,  and  to  Wiepert, 
the  other  day.  Don't  you  know  they  are  spies,  sent 
here  to  create  a  German  sentiment — perhaps  a  revo 
lution  in  favour  of  German  intervention  ?" 

"  Do  you  believe  that  ?"  she  asked,  smiling  calmly. 

' '  I  know  it,"  I  replied. 

"  Then  you  are  once  more  in  error,"  she  said,  scorn 
fully.  "  Pray  permit  me  the  liberty  of  deciding  some 

194 
* 


THE    WOLF-DRIVE 

things  for  myself,  monsieur.     And,  by  the  way,  my 
ring." 

I  put  it  on  my  watch-chain,  fastened  the  clasp  firm 
ly,  tested  it,  and  looked  at  her.  Her  head  was  turned 
the  other  way.  We  said  nothing  for  a  full  minute. 

It  was  growing  dimmer  in  the  forest  when,  at  last, 
we  heard  the  distant  hallooing  of  the  beaters  and  the 
more  distant  rifle-shots,  one,  two,  perhaps  a  dozen. 
But  no  wolf  came  our  way,  although  the  Countess 
raised  her  gun  and  eyed  the  sentier  with  determina 
tion  written  on  every  feature. 

Then  the  soft  chorus  of  hunting-horns  broke  out 
through  the  woods  ;  the  drive  had  ended. 

"  Oh,  dear,"  said  the  Countess,  looking  around  at 
me,  ' ( we  have  lost  the  cup  I" 

"  We  have  gained  more  than  that,"  I  said,  moving 
lightly  to  her  side  as  we  entered  the  homeward  trail. 

We  were  very  silent  on  our  way. 

"I  think  I  am  tired,"  said  the  Countess,  resting  hef 
arm  a  brief  second  against  my  arm,  as  I  aided  her  down 
the  rocks. 

So  we  began  the  descent. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

HIS   HIGHNESS   SPEAKS 

A  chapter  devoted  to  the  generalities  that  treat  of  particulars,  and 
of  wisdom  gained  by  experience 


THE  advent  of  Osborne  had  brought  the  first  glim 
mer  of  gaiety  to  Wilverwiltz  ;  everybody  felt  it  and 
everybody,  in  the  feverish  desire  to  distract  their 
thoughts  from  their  own  unhappiness,  began  to  sug 
gest  all  kinds  of  amusements. 

There  was  a  golf  tournament,  easily  won  by  the 
Countess  Amyce,  who  held  up  the  great  silver  loving- 
cup,  the  first  prize,  and  ironically  invited  me  to 
drain  it. 

"  Why  not  ?"  said  I,  taking  it  from  her.  "  I  have 
drained  bitterer  cups  at  your  command/' 

Luckily  for  me  it  was  nearly  empty,  else  I  should  not 
have  made  my  promise  good,  for  the  cup  held  quarts. 

Edric,  who  had  taken  possession  of  the  three  wolf- 
heads,  killed  that  day  in  the  preserve,  spent  most  of 
his  time  mounting  them  for  the  Duchess.  She  had 
shot  two  wolves  under  his  guidance  and  she  presented 
him  with  the  cup  she  had  won,  an  act  as  gracious  as  it 
was  undiplomatic,  considering  the  marked  coolness 
between  her  husband  and  the  Prince. 

"  What  the  devil  has  Athel  against  me  ?"  he  asked 
me  more  than  once  ;  and  I  could  not  convince  him 
that  the  Duke  suspected  him. 

196 


HIS    HIGHNESS    SPEAKS 

' ( Rubbish  I"  he  exclaimed.  ' e  Any  idiot  can  see 
there  is  nothing  but  good  comradeship  between  the 
Duchess  and  me." 

Any  idiot  could  not  see  ;  but  I  was  unable  to  make 
him  understand  that. 

"I'm  not  going  to  offend  and  slight  a  dear  little 
woman  who  is  very  kind  to  me,"  he  said ;  "  and  Athel 
can  go  to  the  devil." 

"He's  going  fast  enough,"  said  I ;  "he's  drinking 
too  much  wine,  and,  worst  of  all,  he  drinks  alone  in 
his  den.  Drown  sorrow  in  good  company,  and  there's 
hope  for  you ;  but  a  solitary  drinker  is  in  sorry  com 
pany." 

"  He's  a  brute  to  neglect  his  wife,"  was  all  Edric 
would  answer ;  so  I  prudently  desisted  for  the  mo 
ment,  wondering  where  the  thing  was  going  to  end. 

After  the  golf  tournament  the  Duke  took  posses 
sion  of  Osborne  and  me,  and  we  stood  in  coverts  and 
banged  at  pheasants  until  I  wished  every  bird  was 
broiled  and  eaten  and  the  coverts  burned  over.  The 
first  flight  of  woodcock  gave  us  better  sport,  but  I 
thought  it  somewhat  selfish  of  the  Duke  to  with 
draw  from  the  chateau  and  dampen  any  attempt  at 
gaiety  there.  Perhaps  he  divined  my  thoughts,  for  he 
said  one  day : 

"  It's  either  this  sort  of  thing  or  drinking  myself 
stupid  in  my  gun-room — and  you  know  it." 

"Your  unhappiness  is  of  your  own  making,"  I 
said,  bluntly. 

He  wheeled  about  as  though  he  meant  to  strike 
me ;  it  was  a  narrow  escape  for  one  of  us,  for  my 
patience  with  him  had  nearly  ended,  and  he  meant 
murder  for  a  moment. 

197 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

He  sat  down  on  a  log,  very  pale,  and  rested  his 
handsome  face  on  his  closed  hand.  I  pitied  him,  but 
I  had  said  all  I  could  say,  considering  his  abnormal 
sensitiveness. 

We  walked  back,  chatting  as  though  nothing  had 
happened  ;  but  he  was  drunk  that  night — drunk,  all 
alone  in  his  gun-room,  where  I  found  him  lying  white 
and  stupid  in  his  chair ;  and  I  sat  there  with  him 
until  morning. 

A  day  or  two  later,  the  season  at  Scheveningen  be 
ing  ended,  the  Duchess  threw  open  the  house  at  Wil- 
verwiltz,  and  there  began  a  series  of  gaieties  that  made 
the  little  court  quite  brilliant.  His  Excellency  came 
down  from  Luxembourg,  trailing  in  his  wake  the  cal 
low  personnel  of  the  Legation ;  Colonel  Toxe,  Major 
Latrille,  and  the  Duke's  treasurer,  Baron  d'Arlon,  also 
arrived,  reinforced  by  a  dozen  harmless  little  counts 
and  countesses  and  barons  and  baronesses  who  had 
played  all  summer  in  the  salt  water  of  Scheveningen 
like  well-conducted  shrimps,  and  were  now  most  ami 
able  and  pink-and- white,  and  very  Luxembourgeois, 
with  the  Luxem  sometimes  left  out. 

"I  guess,"  observed  his  Excellency,  drawing  me 
into  a  corner  during  an  intricate  and  much  berib- 
boned  figure  in  a  cotillon,  led  by  Osborne  and  the 
Duchess — "  I  guess,  Hardy,  that  the  sooner  these  chil 
dren  are  taken  care  of  by  the  Sudden  One  the  better  it 
will  be  for  'em.  But  that  ain't  what  our  government 
thinks,  and  we've  got  to  look  out  for  the  Dook,  or 
the  Sudden  One  will  catch  him  asleep." 

"  I  wish  to  Heaven/'  said  I,  "  that  I  could  begin  re 
organising  the  army.  Now  is  the  time,  if  it's  going 
to  be  done." 

198 


HIS    HIGHNESS    SPEAKS 

"  Can't  help  it,"  replied  his  Excellency.  ' '  Our  gov 
ernment  says  wait  until  Germany  gets  into  better 
temper,  so  I  guess  we'll  have  to  wait." 

That  night  I  had  a  long  conversation  with  his 
Highness  and  his  Excellency  concerning  the  report 
ed  disaffection  of  the  army.  The  Duke  treated  the 
whole  matter  contemptuously,  declaring  that  Giroux 
and  his  gendarmerie  were  enough  to  frighten  the 
army  into  a  collective  fit. 

"Still,"  I  said,  "if  there  should  be  a  riot — even 
disturbance  enough  to  give  Germany  a  pretext  for  in 
tervention  —  the  chestnuts  would  be  in  the  fire,  and  I 
don't  think  the  United  States  would  pull  them  out  for 
your  Highness." 

"I'm  damn  sure  of  that,"  said  his  Excellency, 
bluntly. 

The  Duke  laughed  very  heartily,  assuring  us  that 
the  half-dozen  disaffected  soldiers  in  the  army  had 
been  too  thoroughly  frightened  to  continue  plotting — 
even  if  they  had  ever  plotted. 

"Don't  be  too  sure,"  said  his  Excellency,  mildly; 
"  still  waters  run  deep  and  stagnant  pools  collect 
poison  ;  and,  God  knows,  your  army,  Dook,  is  the  most 
stagnant  collection  in  Europe." 

"  It  is — but  it  won't  be  as  soon  as  we  begin  reorgan 
isation,"  said  the  Duke,  hopefully.  "  Universal  service 
and  new  blood  will  do  wonders  for  Luxembourg." 

That  was  always  the  way  such  councils  of  state 
ended.  The  Duke  absolutely  refused  to  see  any 
danger  in  the  constant  rumours  of  discontent  fo 
mented  by  German  agents.  He  laughed  at  the  idea 
of  personal  danger ;  he  said  he  would  do  anything  to 
insure  the  security  of  the  country  and  its  indepen- 

199 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

dence;  but,  he  argued,  nothing  further  could  be  done 
until  the  United  States  persuaded  Germany  that  there 
was  no  reason  why  the  Luxembourg  army  should  not 
be  reorganised  and  increased. 

As  for  Toxe  and  Latrille,  his  Highness,  if  he  sus 
pected  them,  did  not  show  it,  nor  did  he  acknowledge 
it  to  me.  I  have  often  thought  that  the  idea  of  his 
officers  betraying  him  mortified  him  so  much  that,  if  he 
did  not  entirely  discredit  the  possibility,  at  least  he 
was  too  sensitive  and  proud  to  admit  it  to  foreigners. 

He  was  a  very  brave,  very  lovable,  very  illogical, 
and  very  unhappy  young  man. 

Meanwhile,  Osborne  was  having  a  glorious  time ;  so 
was  Bettina,  except  when  the  Duchess  told  her  gently 
and  sweetly  that  she  was  dancing  too  much  with 
Osborne.  That  made  her  unhappy  for  nearly  an  hour, 
during  which  she  walked  all  around  the  park  wall 
with  Flic,  who  nearly  caught  the  grasshoppers  which 
Bettina's  little  feet  startled  into  a  click-clicking  flight 
across  the  clover. 

Nevertheless,  that  evening  she  danced  with  Osborne 
until  her  cheeks  flamed  and  her  eyes  sparkled,  and 
she  felt  that  it  would  be  no  very  difficult  performance 
to  drift  into  paradise  on  the  arm  of  this  cool,  laughing- 
eyed  young  American. 

As  it  was  my  fate  to  conscientiously  attempt  to  man 
age  everybody's  affairs  except  my  own,  I  spoke  to  Os 
borne  about  Bettina,  and  felt  like  a  prig  for  doing  it. 

"  My  son,"  said  Victor,  kindly,  "  go  to  the  deuce  !" 

"  You're  a  selfish  brute,"  I  replied  ;  "anybody  can 
see  you  have  turned  her  head." 

"Well,"  he  said,  "if  it  were  true,  I  am  not  mar 
ried,  am  I  ?" 

200 


HIS    HIGHNESS    SPEAKS 

' '  No,  and  you  won't  be  to  Bettina,  if  the  Duchess 
has  a  head  on  her  shoulders/'  I  replied,  "or  if  I 
have/7 

"Is  there  any  reason  for  saying  such  a  thing  to 
me  ?"  he  inquired,  suddenly  savage. 

"  You  put  the  words  and  the  reason  into  my  mouth," 
I  rejoined,  "when  you  said  :  ' Politicians  never  love 
or  hate/" 

"  Eubbish  I"  he  retorted,  reddening ;  "  if  you  believe 
everything  I  tell  you — " 

"I  don't,  Victor.  Only  don't  be  selfish  in  your 
amusement." 

He  went  away,  looking  very  sober,  but  I  saw  him 
later  in  the  evening  leading  Bettina  blissfully  through 
the  mazes  of  one  of  those  devilishly  seductive  Span 
ish  waltzes. 

As  for  me,  I  had  not  danced  at  all  since  the  series 
of  cotillons  had  begun  at  Wilverwiltz.  Not  that  I 
could  not ;  every  boy  at  West  Point  is  obliged  to  learn. 
But  after  the  first  formal  figure  with  the  Duchess,  his 
Highness  usually  withdrew  to  the  terrace,  and  I  of 
course  attended  him,  being  in  full  uniform  and  acting 
as  aide-de-camp. 

Once  he  said  :  "  You  know  I  don't  mind  if  you 
care  to  dance ;  I  would  enjoy  my  cigar  the  more  for 
watching  you." 

So  one  evening,  after  examining  the  dancers  who 
passed  the  great  windows  in  whirls  of  silk  and  lace 
and  fluttering  ribbons,  I  told  his  Highness  I  wouldn't 
mind  dancing,  and  he  laughed  his  youthful,  kindly 
laugh,  and  told  me  to  pitch  in. 

We  stood  a  moment  together,  watching  his  Excel 
lency  proudly  footing  it  with  the  Duchess ;  we  ob- 

201 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

served  Toxe  and  Latrille  prancing  about  with  two  shell- 
pink  baronesses ;  we  applauded  old  De  Kuyter,  who 
turned  stiffly  round  and  round,  his  rigid  arm  encircling 
Bettina's  little  waist.  Edric  was  dancing  with  Amyce  ; 
I  watched  them  until  he  led  her  to  a  seat,  then,  pull 
ing  on  my  gloves,  I  sauntered  into  the  ball-room  and 
looked  about  for  somebody  to  take  pity  on  me. 

Bettina  did  at  once,  bless  her  little  heart,  and  we 
whirled  away,  to  the  intense  disgust  of  Osborne,  who 
had  been  mustering  up  his  courage  to  ask  Bettina  for 
a  third  time  in  spite  of  the  discouraging  attitude  of 
the  Duchess. 

"Dear  me!"  exclaimed  Bettina,  breathless,  "I 
didn't  believe  you  knew  how  to  dance — you  never 
came  on  the  floor,  you  know." 

"  I'll  come  oftener  now,"  said  I,  leading  her  to  the 
Duchess,  which  manoeuvre  almost  cost  me  Osborne's 
friendship. 

"  Imbecile  I"  he  muttered  in  my  ear.  ' f  It's  the  very 
thing  Fve  tried  to  avoid ;  the  Duchess  knows  we've 
danced  twice.  Go  back  and  ask  her  Highness  for 
this  waltz." 

I  was  contemplating  a  move  in  the  direction  of 
Amyce  de  Wiltz ;  however,  I  did  as  he  wished,  and 
the  Duchess  prettily  consented  in  that  delightfully 
informal  manner  peculiar  to  the  court  of  Luxem 
bourg. 

After  that,  at  her  Highness's  request,  I  danced  with 
several  delicately  tinted  baronesses,  all  resembling 
each  other,  all  monotonously  pretty  and  frivolous. 

As  I  was  strolling  towards  the  conservatory  to  rejoin 
his  Highness,  rather  dissatisfied  with  my  terpsichorean 
essays,  I  encountered  the  Countess  of  Wilverwiltz  on 
202 


HIS    HIGHNESS    SPEAKS 

Osborne's  arm,  and  I  bowed  pleasantly  and  passed 
them,  with  a  little  tightening  of  the  heart. 

Now,  whatever  it  was  that  made  me  stop  and  look 
back  I  do  not  know.  It  seemed  as  though  a  still  voice 
had  spoken  my  name,  close  to  my  ear,  yet  I  scarcely 
expected  it  to  be  true.  Nevertheless,  on  the  impulse 
I  turned,  and  saw  the  Countess  looking  back  at  me. 
We  both  stopped ;  I  retraced  my  steps  and  came  to 
where  she  stood,  still  holding  Osborne's  arm. 

"  I  don't  understand  how  you  could  have  heard  me 
speak,"  she  said,  a  trifle  disconcerted ;  "the  music  and 
chatter  drown  everything,  and  I  scarcely  whispered 
your  name." 

"  A  beautiful  woman's  whisper  can  be  heard  farther 
than  a  shout  from  the  pulpit,"  I  replied. 

She  turned  to  Osborne  and  released  his  arm  with  a 
smile.  Presently  I  found  myself  with  the  Countess 
Amyce,  floating  in  the  dreamiest  of  waltzes,  oblivious 
of  everything  except  the  soft  light  from  the  candles, 
the  softer  music,  and  the  woman  in  my  arms.  Every 
thing  else  had  vanished,  the  people,  the  gilded  walls, 
the  polished  floor  itself.  Even  the  light  grew  dimmer 
and  softer,  the  music  -died  away,  pulsating,  as  our 
two  hearts  throbbed,  noiselessly ;  then  seemed  to  cease. 

We  stood  still ;  my  arm  fell  from  her  waist ;  the 
harmony  of  voices  around  us  grew  and  swelled  out  as 
consciousness  returned.  I  saw  Bettina  passing  with 
Osborne  and  her  Highness ;  I  saw  Edric  follow 
them  into  a  flare  of  light  where  glasses  tinkled  and 
flagons  flashed  a  million  prismatic  sparks  through 
amber  wines  and  wines  as  crimson  as  the  moist,  half- 
parted  lips  that  smiled,  answering  my  low-voiced 
thanks. 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"  No,  let  us  go  to  the  terrace/'  she  said.  "  To-night 
I  neither  hate  nor  love,  nor  have  I  any  human  desire. 
It  may  never  be  so  again  ;  let  us  stand  there  a  moment 
in  the  moonlight — and  let  us  remember  this  waltz 
together." 

His  Highness,  sitting  with  cigar  unlighted,  smiled 
at  us  as  we  passed.  I  saw  his  pale  handsome  face  bent 
on  his  breast  where  the  broad  orange  sash  swept  over 
his  uniform,  studded  with  jewelled  orders. 

We  bowed  low  ;  he  rose  and  watched  us  to  the  ter 
race,  then  turned  away  alone. 

In  the  moonlight  a  white  peacock,  moving  across 
the  lawn,  cast  a  pale  shadow  that  dimmed  the  dewy 
diamonds  strung  on  every  grass-blade.  Presently  the 
ghostlike  bird  napped  to  the  parapet,  folded  its  snowy 
wings  and  settled  down,  its  slender  neck  sunk  in  its 
breast. 

"  Something  has  disturbed  it,"  I  said,  thinking  of 
the  stoats  and  foxes  that  roamed  everywhere  through 
the  country  ;  "  there  is  some  intruder  near." 

She  did  not  answer  ;  she  leaned  on  the  marble 
balustrade,  her  slender  hands  clasped  beside  her  face, 
eyes  dreaming. 

After  a  long  while  I  spoke  again  : 

"Has  hate  faded  forever  —  or  will  the  morning 
bring  it  back,  stronger  than  ever  ?" 

"  Morning  ?"  she  repeated.  "  What  do  I  know  what 
the  morning  may  bring  ?" 

"Perhaps  nothing  more  than  a  memory  of  our 
dance,"  I  said. 

"  Ah,  that  dance  !" 

"Our  first." 

"Yes,  our  first." 

204 


HIS    HIGHNESS    SPEAKS 

Then  the  spell  that  was  upon  her  seemed  to  break  ; 
she  looked  up  at  me  with  dark  mischievous  eyes  and 
strove  to  read  me.  It  was  easy  enough,  God  wot. 

"  I  suppose,"  she  said,  "  you  are  tiring  of  my 
hatred  ?" 

' '  I  can  stand  this  kind,"  I  smiled. 

1 '  Oh,  I  know  I  am  much  too  kind  to  you,"  she  went 
on,  resentfully ;  "  it's  only  because  I  myself  tire  of 
such  passionate  hate — not  because  I  care  what  you 
may  feel." 

"  You  certainly  encourage  me  by  having  any  feeling 
at  all  towards  me,"  I  said. 

"  I  don't  mean  to  encourage  you  ;  if  I  thought  in 
difference  would  hurt  you  Fd  be  indifferent." 

"It  would,"  said  I ;  "but  you  can't  be." 

"I  can,"  she  flashed  out,  rising  from  her  position 
on  the  parapet;  "and  I  beg  you  will  return  me  my 
ring." 

"  I  won't,"  I  replied,  serenely. 

"  Give  it  to  me  at  once,"  she  said,  in  a  low  voice. 

I  wore  it  on  a  chain  in  my  left  breast-pocket,  and 
I  drew  it  out  and  began  to  undo  the  swivel  clasp  that 
held  it. 

"Here  it  is,"  said  I,  holding  it  up  in  the  moonlight. 

Then  a  painful  thing  occurred :  his  Highness, 
vague-eyed,  pale,  stepped  out  of  the  glass  door  behind 
us,  and  at  the  first  glance  I  saw  he  had  been  drinking 
heavily. 

Confounded,  ashamed,  I  moved  forward  impul 
sively,  but  he  motioned  me  back  with  a  gesture  : 

"You  fools,"  he  said — "you  fools,  to  hurt  each 
other  with  unkind  words  !" 

In  the  deathly  silence  I  heard  Amyce  gasp. 
205 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"You  fools/' he  said,  bitterly,  "to  play  with  the 
love  Gk>d  sends  you  !" 

He  stood,  slightly  swaying,  his  pallid  face  and 
blood-shot  eyes  fixed  on  us.  Then  he  went  away, 
groping  as  though  blinded,  and  I  followed  him  to  the 
turret-door,  but  he  waved  me  back. 

"Take  me  in — if  you  please,"  said  the  Countess 
Amyce,  in  a  still,  small  voice ;  "and — keep  the  ring — 
until  I  ask  it." 

I  led  her  to  the  ball-room ;  the  Duchess  signalled 
her,  and  Bettina  rose  and  came  towards  us. 

"Leave  me  now,"  she  said,  her  dark  eyes  shining 
with  tears;  "and  if  you  can  do  anything  for  his 
Highness — " 

"What  he  has  done  for  us,"  I  said,  "I  shall  try  to 
do  for  him — and  his  wife." 

"  Yes,"  she  whispered,  "  what  he  has  done  for — us ; 
try — for  her  Highnesses  sake.  She  loves  him." 


CHAPTER  XX 

MASKS 

Showing  how  one  cook  might  spoil  the  broth,  especially  considering 
the  fact  that  he  can  neither  cook  for  others  nor  prepare  a  pala 
table  dish  for  his  own  consumption 

MEANTIME  events  were  so  shaping  themselves  in 
the  United  States  that  it  really  seemed  as  if  the 
triple  Samoan  guardianship  might  be  violently  rupt 
ured  and  a  single  protectorate  over  the  islands  pro 
claimed  by  Germany  in  the  teeth  of  England  and  the 
United  States. 

"If  that's  the  way  the  cat  jumps,"  said  his  Excel 
lency  to  me  one  morning,  "Luxembourg  will  be  safe 
for  a  while  anyway ;  and  it  might  not  be  a  bad  thing 
if  we  know  how  to  use  it." 

"You  mean  Cuba  and  Hawaii  ?"  I  asked. 

"I  do,  young  man,  and  so  does  the  President.  But 
he  is  not  popular ;  he  is  too  honest  to  be  popular. 
But  I  guess  we  ain't  going  to  fight  about  anything 
anyway,  and  the  cat  can  jump  whichever  way  she 
damn  pleases." 

"  At  present  she  has  jumped  onto  the  back  fence," 
I  said,  smiling. 

"  Yes,"  said  his  Excellency,  "the  cat's  on  the  fence 
and  the  nigger's  in  the  wood-pile,  and  "William  the 
Sudden  is  sawing  wood.  I  guess  Fll  hold  a  pow-wow 
with  the  Dook."  And  he  walked  away  towards  the 

207 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

golf-links,  where  his  Highness  was  driving  off  the 
tee. 

It  was  quite  certain  that  we  were  approaching  one 
of  those  social  and  political  anomalies  known  as 
"crises."  Even  I,  lacking  in  diplomatic  intuition  as 
I  was,  could  intelligently  watch  and  even  forestall,  at 
times,  the  moves  on  the  strategical  chess-board,  where 
the  pieces  were  live  kings  and  queens,  and  the  pawns 
real  armies. 

Already  the  autumn  manoeuvres  of  the  German 
army  had  hegun,  and,  of  course,  quite  by  accident, 
the  theatre  of  operations  was  Rhenish  Prussia.  No 
body  could  protest  because  eighty  thousand  men  were 
massing  within  a  few  hours'  march  of  Luxembourg, 
because  they  were  on  their  side  of  the  frontier.  That 
was  a  move  of  William  the  Sudden  to  develop  his 
pawns. 

The  answer  to  that  move  was  also  a  pawn-play, 
made  by  the  little  Queen  of  Holland,  and  so  quickly 
that  the  Sudden  One  nearly  lost  his  royal  temper — 
which  is  unwise  in  chess.  The  answering  move  was 
this  :  the  Dutch  manoeuvres,  which  usually  take  place 
in  October,  were  advanced  a  whole  month  earlier ;  two 
stolid  Dutch  army -corps,  numbering  perhaps  fifty 
thousand  men,  were  set  in  motion  along  that  newly 
acquired  strip  of  territory  which  enables  Holland  to 
pierce  Belgium  near  Saint-Imbert  and  touch  the  inde 
pendent  Grand  Duchy  of  Luxembourg  at  the  frontier 
hamlet  of  Sfax. 

The  next  move  in  the  game  was  more  serious : 
William  the  Sudden  himself  arrived  at  Treves,  on  the 
Moselle.  In  chess  it  would  have  been  called  a  move 
ment  of  royalty  to  support  pawns.  But  the  answer  to 

208 


MASKS 

that  threw  the  Sudden  One  entirely  out  of  all  his  cal 
culations  ;  for  little  Queen  Wilhelmina,  apparently 
possessed  with  a  sudden  thirst  for  military  informa 
tion,  decided  to  watch  the  Dutch  manoeuvres  in  per- 
sonj  and  was  received  at  Hautes  Fanges  with  frantic 
cheers  by  the  entire  Dutch  army. 

"  She'll  come  to  Wilverwiltz  before  long,  mark  my 
words,"  said  his  Excellency ;  "  and  if  she  does  it 
at  the  proper  moment  she'll  have  all  Europe  with 
her." 

These  political  preparations  for  a  play  that  fate 
might  make  into  farce  or  tragedy  scarcely  created  an 
additional  ripple  on  the  surface  of  the  gay  whirl  at 
Wilverwiltz.  The  very  people  who  had  most  to  lose 
or  gain  by  a  shake  of  war's  iron  dice  paid  the  least 
heed  to  the  ominous  sounds  behind  the  curtain. 
Yet  I  for  one  would  have  given  much  and  dared 
much  to  find  out  what  the  scene-shifters  had  prepared 
for  us  behind  that  cloaked  curtain,  diplomacy. 

Even  at  Wilverwiltz  events  had  occurred  past  my 
comprehension  ;  the  Countess  of  Wilverwiltz,  since 
that  evening  on  the  terrace,  never  for  a  single  second 
gave  me  a  chance  to  see  her  alone.  Not  that  she 
avoided  me ;  but  she  always  managed  to  have  some 
body  else  with  her  when  I  approached.  Yet  she 
received  me  now  very  graciously  and  sweetly,  and 
with  that  faint  trace  of  embarrassment  which  sets  a 
man's  heart  quickening  and  nerves  him  to  play  that 
greatest  of  life's  games — a  game  that  none  can  play  for 
him,  a  game  where  none  can  aid  him,  save  his  adver 
sary  ;  the  only  game  where,  when  the  woman  loses, 
both  win,  and  when  the  man  loses,  all  is  lost.  I  think 
it  is  called  "hearts,"  or  something  similar, 
o  209 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

But  there  were  other  matters  concerning  the  Count 
ess  Amyce  which  occupied  and  troubled  me  :  her  in 
creasing  aversion  to  Edric  and  her  mysterious  solitary 
horseback  gallops  into  the  Wiltz  coppice,  where,  I 
began  to  fear,  she  was  listening  to  more  absurd  lies 
from  Wiepert  and  Vossburg  touching  on  Edric's 
alleged  intrigue  against  the  Duke. 

The  worst  of  it  was  that  she  had  evidently  told  the 
Duke  of  her  suspicions ;  and  his  Highness,  who  al 
ready  bitterly  resented  Edric's  imprudent  attentions 
to  the  Duchess,  now  took  no  care  to  conceal  his  dis 
like  of  the  Prince. 

If  I  could  have  laid  my  hand  on  Wiepert  or  Voss 
burg  I  should  have  taken  it  upon  myself  to  expel 
them  from  the  country — quietly,  of  course. 

Once  or  twice  I  hunted  for  them,  taking  Giroux 
and  a  dozen  of  his  gendarmes  with  me,  but  we  found 
no  traces  of  them,  and  Giroux  narrowly  escaped  fall 
ing  into  a  steel  wolf-trap,  concealed  in  a  patch  of 
ferns. 

"Sapristi  I"  he  blurted  out,  perspiring  from  sheer 
fright;  "you  had  better  tell  his  Highness  to  take  up 
his  traps  now  that  he's  shot  all  the  wolves  in  the 
preserve." 

But  wolf-traps  were  not  the  only  thing  to  be  dreaded 
in  the  forest.  One  morning,  while  on  my  way  to  break 
fast  with  Edric,  somebody  fired  a  rifle,  and  the  bullet 
jerked  my  hat  from  my  head.  It  may  have  been  an 
accident ;  they  happen  even  in  Luxembourg.  But  the 
curious  part  of  it  was  that  I  caught  a  glimpse  of 
Vossburg's  bloated  face  through  the  hedge,  and  I 
tore  the  clothes  nearly  off  my  back  to  get  through  the 
hedge  and  compare  notes  with  him  on  the  coincidence. 

210 


MASKS 

I  suppose  he  became  tired  of  waiting  for  me  to  get 
through.  However,  I  told  nobody. 

That  night,  at  the  chateau,  they  gave  Coppee's  ex 
quisite  one-act  comedy  of  "Le  Passant."  Amyce  was 
Sylvia  ;  Osborne,  Le  Passant.  And,  oh  Heavens  !  how 
I  did  hate  him. 

Then  followed  a  little  farce  by  Labiche,  called 
6 '  Frisette,"  in  which  Amyce  made  an  adorable  Frisette, 
the  Duchess  a  very  sweet  and  uninteresting  Madame 
Menachet,  and  Osborne  a  first-rate  Gaudrion.  The 
Voice  of  Monsieur  Barbaroux  was  taken  by  Toxe — 
very  unpleasantly. 

It  was  then  that  I  realised  more  fully  than  I  had 
after  the  performance  in  my  prison  the  delicious 
histrionic  cleverness  of  the  young  Countess  of  Wilver- 
wilfcz.  In  that  eighth  scene  she  was  simply  exquisite  : 

GAUDRION  (d part)— " Hum  !    Hum!" 
FRISETTE  (accroupie  pres  de  la  cheminee,  d  part) — "Tousse, 
va  !  .  .  .  si  tu  crois  que  je  vais  te  repondre  ..." 

After  "  Frisette,"  his  Highness  seriously  performed 
a  judicious  violin  obbligato,  much  applauded  and  very, 
very  bad.  His  Highness  loved  music  as  he  loved  his 
hounds,  and  he  treated  both  with  firmness  and  sever 
ity,  for  their  good. 

A  delicately  tinted  pink-and-white  baroness  sang 
"  Viens,  zoue  dans  mon  zardin  \"  and  Osborne  fol 
lowed  with  a  cleverly  expurgated  edition  of  "Barney 
Riley"  on  the  banjo,  which  set  everybody's  marching 
blood  tingling.  He  capped  the  climax  with  dear  old 
"  Garryowen,"  beloved  by  the  Seventh  Cavalry  ;  and 
the  evening  ended  with  a  bit  from  Lovelace,  said  in 
English  by  Amyce  : 

211 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

.  .  .  "As  when  on  blazing  wings  a  blest  man  soars 
And,  having  past  to  God  through  fiery  doors, 
Straight  's  robed  with  flames,  when  the  same  element 
Which  was  his  shame,  proves  now  his  ornament"  .  .  . 

She  turned  the  least  bit  as  she  stepped  back  through 
the  crimson  curtains  and  looked  at  me  with  fathom 
less  velvet  eyes.  But,  when  everybody  had  thronged 
to  the  ball-room,  and  the  Duke's  orchestra  were  fid 
dling  madly  in  their  rococo  heaven,  I  found  her,  only 
to  lose  her  the  same  instant,  as  she  whirled  away  in  a 
waltz  with  Toxe. 

In  vain  I  prowled,  waiting  my  turn  ;  in  vain  I  sulked  ; 
in  vain  I  glared  that  gloomy,  unconscious  glare  which 
once  amused  me  in  other  unfortunate  young  men. 

Bettina  and  Osborne  were  doing  two-steps  all  over 
the  floor,  to  the  intense  annoyance  of  De  Ruyter,  who 
was  slowly  and  methodically  turning  the  Duchess, 
pivot-wise,  with  a  subdued  yet  earnest  enthusiasm 
that  made  me  fear  he'd  twist  her  Highness's  pretty 
head  off.  Even  his  Excellency,  tucking  his  partner's 
right  arm  into  his  own  hip,  as  though  adjusting  a 
sword,  footed  it  up  and  down  in  an  antiquated  waltz- 
step,  to  the  polite  amazement  of  his  partner,  a  cream- 
and-strawberry  baroness. 

The  Duke,  watching  them  through  the  conserva 
tory,  signalled  me  to  join  him  in  a  cigar,  which  I  did, 
mentally  cursing  Toxe  and  anybody  else  who  inter 
fered  with  me. 

"  You're  not  dancing  ?"  he  asked,  pleasantly. 

"No,  your  Highness." 

«  Tired  ?" 

"  No — only  of  inaction." 

f(  There's  time  for  action  when  we  change  our  laws 
212 


MASKS 

and  set  all  our  good  peasant-folk  marching  behind  the 
bass-drum." 

"  A  tumble  down-stairs  saves  many  a  soul  from  the 
devil,"  I  said  ;  "there's  a  time  for  all  things."  .  .  . 

"  There  is  time.  Armies  are  more  easily  mended 
than  men's  hearts." 

I  looked  up  at  his  sober  young  face,  already  lined 
under  the  eyes,  and,  close  to  either  corner  of  his 
mouth,  I  saw  new  marks,  those  thin,  almost  imper 
ceptible,  threadlike  lines  of  pain,  not  always  physical. 

"  Men's  hearts,"  I  said,  "  are  never  out  of  their  own 
keeping,  public  opinion  to  the  contrary.  With  women 
it  is  diiferent." 

"  Men  seldom  choose  to  claim  possession  of  their 
own  hearts,  however,"  he  replied,  vaguely. 

<(  That  is  also  true,  your  Highness — even  when  their 
hearts  are  tossed  back  at  their  own  feet." 

After  a  silence  he  said,  without  the  least  emotion 
and  with  a  sincerity  that  touched  me  :  "I  wish  I  were 
dead,  Hardy."  He  laid  one  hand  lightly  on  my  el 
bow  ;  it  was  perfectly  steady. 

"  You  might  better  be — if  this  is  all  of  life  that  life 
holds  for  you,"  I  said  ;  "  but  it  isir't." 

"  What  else  is  there  ?"  he  asked. 

"  The  love  of  your  wife,"  I  replied,  wondering 
whether  he  would  knock  me  down.  If  he  had,  I 
should  have  given  him  a  lively  quarter  of  an  hour  ;  I 
felt  in  that  humour. 

His  hand  on  my  elbow  tightened  slowly  but  steadily  ; 
his  grip  was  vicelike,  with  all  the  quality  of  metal  in  it. 

"Damn  you  !"  he  said.  "Do  you  know  what  you 
say  ?" 

"Exactly,"  I  replied ;  "let  go  of  my  arm  !" 
213 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

He  dropped  my  arm ;  we  looked  into  each  other's 
eyes  with  perfect  candour.  After  a  moment  he  turned 
and  walked  out  to  the  terrace  where  acres  of  potted 
flowers  perfumed  the  still  clear  air  with  a  fresher, 
fainter  fragrance  for  the  tinge  of  frost  in  every 
breath. 

I  followed,  lifting  and  hooking  my  sabre  so  it  could 
not  clash  against  the  metal  on  the  violet  sabre-tache. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon/'  I  said  ;  "  I  am  in  your  High- 
ness's  uniform,  and  I  forgot  what  was  due  to  my  su 
perior  officer." 

e<  Hardy  !  Hardy  !"  he  said,  almost  fiercely,  turning 
a  ghastly  face  to  mine,  "what  do  I  care  for  that — or 
your  rank  or  your  uniform,  or  your  tinsel  sabre-tache  ! 
I  need  a  friend — I  need  a  man — a  comrade  who  can 
tell  me  what  you  have  told  me — who  can  make  me  be 
lieve  it — who  can  put  some  strength  and  courage  and 
simple  manliness  into  me.  God  knows  it's  time  !" 

I  waited ;  for  this  was  the  moment  for  silence. 

"I  can't  speak — I  can't  say  what  you  know  I  would 
say,"  he  went  on,  feverishly.  "There's  something 
that  chokes  me,  that  almost  strangles  me  when  I  try 
to  ask  for  help — even  from  God.  Shame,  pride,  and 
that  curse  of  my  life,  my  own  cowardly,  timid  distrust 
in  my  own  miserable  self — all  this  and  everything  that 
I  am — my  every  instinct,  my  inherited  weakness,  my 
indecision,  and  above  all,  my  shame — have  made  life 
such  a  hell  for  me  that  I  would  not  live  one  second — 
now  ! — if  I  were  not  too  proud  to  leave  the  world  that 
way." 

I  said :  "  Your  Highness's  courage  is  unquestioned  ; 
the  intelligence  of  your  Highness  leaves  much  to 
be  desired.  None  so  blind  as  he  who  will  not  open 

214 


MASKS 

his  eyes,  except  he  who  sees  and  says,  '  0  God,  in 
terpret  for  Thy  servant !' " 

He  leaned  heavily  on  both  elbows,  head  buried  in 
his  hands.  I  saw  his  sabre,  high  on  his  thigh,  begin 
to  swing  gently  to  and  fro,  silvered  by  the  moonlight. 

"If  he  can  weep,"  I  thought,  "he  can  see  and 
hear." 

I  said,  again,  leaning  on  the  marble  balustrade 
beside  him : 

"  Prince  or  no  prince,  you  are  a  man.  If  what  you 
seek  is  worth  seeking,  are  you  afraid  to  dare  ?" 

"Yes,  I  am  afraid.  She  knows — she  knows  what 
I  am.  She  knows  I  am  not  a  man — only  a  Prince,  to 
be  sold  and  bartered.  She  inherited  me  when  she 
inherited  the  country  —  like  a  bit  of  gilt  plate,  like 
the  quarterings  on  the  crest  there  in  the  palace.  Oh, 
the  sorry  trade!  —  a  young  life  for  the  tarnished 
heraldry  of  a  crest ! — a  woman's  whole  long  life  for  a 
name  and  a  palace,  and  the  shadow  of  a  man  to  haunt 
her  till  her  eyes  close  at  last  and  shut  him  out  for 
ever.  Is  it  not  horrible,  Hardy — by  God ! — is  it  not 
horrible  ?" 

He  began  to  pace  the  terrace,  his  straight,  shining 
sword  by  his  side  quivering  in  the  moonbeams,  the 
medals  on  his  breast  making  mellow,  golden  music. 

"  Who  are  you,  anyway,  to  question  me  ?"  he  cried, 
wheeling  about  suddenly. 

"  Your  officer  and  comrade — who  would  rather  see 
you  this  way  than  lying  drunk  in  your  gun-room,"  I 
said,  sharply. 

He  burst  into  a  harsh,  mocking  laugh  : 

"  Discipline  in  the  army  is  wonderful  when  the 
commander  weeps  on  his  aide-de-camp's  shoulder!" 

215 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

The  next  moment  he  stepped  up  swiftly  and  took  my 
hand  and  held  it  tightly.  "  Forgive  me,  Hardy,  I 
think  Fm  half  crazy  to-night.  You've  been  very  de 
cent  to  me — good-night." 

He  lingered,  looking  curiously  at  me  with  what  I 
thought  was  a  happier  expression  on  his  worn  young 
face  than  I  had  seen  for  many  a  day. 

"  There  is  only  one  man  her  Highness  loves/'  I 
said,  risking  all  or  nothing. 

He  suddenly  turned  a  deep  crimson,  standing  there 
as  awkward  as  a  youth  at  his  first  tryst ;  and  I  almost 
laughed  as  I  watched  the  colour  dye  his  face  to  the 
neck.  Then  he  went  away,  noiselessly,  and  his  step 
was  lighter  than  a  lover's ;  and  his  head  was  bent  a 
little,  so  that  I  saw  his  eyes,  as  he  passed,  dreaming 
of  what  a  man  might  dare  for  love.  But  what  one 
dreams  at  night  takes  strange  forms  and  fears  by  day, 
and  I  knew  that  the  time  was  not  yet  come  when  his 
Highness  would  find  courage  to  woo  his  wife  for  the 
love  he  bore  her. 

I  walked  leisurely  back  to  the  ball-room,  where  the 
Duchess  had  already  given  the  signal  for  breaking  up, 
and  now  stood  with  the  Countess  Amyce,  patiently 
listening  to  Bettina's  appeal  for  "one  more  waltz." 

"Then  I'll  dance  it  with  you  myself,"  said  the 
young  Duchess,  mischievously,  and  before  Bettina 
could  even  pout,  she  found  herself  swung  off  into  a 
delirious  Spanish  waltz,  without  the  slightest  chance 
of  catching  Osborne's  indignant  eye  and  soothing  his 
disappointment  with  a  moue  of  resignation. 

This  manoeuvre,  for  the  first  time  in  days,  left  me 
alone  a  moment  with  the  Countess  Amyce ;  and  before 
she  had  a  chance  to  move  closer  to  the  group  of  ala- 

216 


MASKS 

baster  baronesses  behind  her,  I  asked  for  this   last 
waltz. 

"  It  will  take  you  so  long  to  unhook  your  sabre  and 
sabre-tache,"  she  said,  moving  a  single  step  backward. 

"Then  I'll  dance  as  I  am." 

"  Merci — and  my  gown  ?" 

"But—" 

"  JSTo,  no,  the  waltz  is  nearly  ended.  See,  the  musi 
cians  are  yawning  up  to  heaven." 

She  took  another  little  backward  step,  looking  up 
at  me  from  under  her  curled  lashes,  defiant,  mischiev 
ous,  yet  with  something  in  the  curve  of  her  red  lips 
that  softened  the  harshness  of  my  disappointment. 

"Why  do  you  avoid  me  ?"  I  asked,  bluntly. 

"  I  ?    Avoid  you,  Monsieur  Hardy  ?" 

"Yes.    Why?" 

' '  Dear  me,  what  an  absurd  question  !" 

te  Absurd  or  not,  tell  me.    Why  ?" 

"How  can  a  woman  tell  what  she  does  anything 
for  ?"  she  said.  "  You  can't  buy  reasons,  like  raisins, 
at  Frivolity  Fair.  Good-night,  monsieur  the  proverbial 
pilgrim." 

To  my  chagrin  the  music  ceased ;  the  Duchess  and 
Bettina,  flushed  and  breathless,  came  up  from  their 
romp,  and  De  Ruyter  attended  them  to  the  great  stair 
case.  There  I  also  took  my  leave  of  her  Highness, 
who  impulsively  stretched  out  her  jewelled  hand, 
standing  on  the  first  step ;  and  I  bent  and  touched 
it  gravely  with  my  lips. 

"  What  shall  we  do  without  our  aide-de-camp  ?"  she 
said,  with  her  pretty,  serious  smile. 

"What  shall  we  do  with  him  ?"  murmured  the 
Countess,  leaning  on  the  balustrade. 

217 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

Bettina  laughed,  and  tossed  a  bunch  of  white  vio 
lets  down  at  me,  which  flattered  me  greatly  until  I 
noticed  Osborne  behind  me.  It  is  difficult  sometimes 
to  tell  when  a  woman  is  looking  at  the  man  behind 
you — and  I  am  a  modest  man,  too. 

In  the  conservatory  half  a  dozen  officers  sat  smok 
ing  and  sipping  their  fiery  Eau-de-vie-de-Wiltz,  a 
species  of  rose-wine,  unfavourable  to  sobriety  and  si 
lence. 

f<  Don't  touch  it,"  said  Osborne,  as  I  sat  down  be 
side  De  Ruyter,  who,  alone  of  all  the  company,  stuck 
to  his  Holland  schnapps. 

Latrille  and  Toxe,  in  full  uniform,  looked  up  sneer- 
ingly  as  Osborne  and  I  ordered  a  couple  of  glasses  of 
Diekirch  beer,  the  finest  beer  in  the  world,  not  except 
ing  the  most  famous  brews  of  Munich  and  Pilsen. 

"You  are  right,"  observed  old  De  Ruyter;  "rose- 
wine  and  wagging  tongues  set  church  bells  tolling  for 
a  fool's  requiem." 

"  Go  on  with  your  story,"  said  Toxe  to  Latrille ; 
and  that  weak-faced  young  man  began  one  of  those 
scandalous  histories  that  seem  inevitable  when  moral 
gentlemen  prepare  to  part  for  the  night. 

The  story  was  weaker  and  more  vicious  than  the 
teller ;  Toxe  laughed ;  Giroux  grinned,  and  two  very 
young  officers  slapped  their  knees  and  looked  wisely 
convulsed. 

"Really,"  said  I,  to  Latrille;  "you  tell  the  story 
so  well  it  is  a  pity  it  is  not  worth  telling." 

Latrille  looked  at  me,  confused  ;  Toxe  said,  with  a 
covert  sneer  : 

"  Even  an  American  could  scarcely  call  the  story 
immoral." 

218 


MASKS 

"  No,"  I  said  ;  "but  if  the  story  were  as  bad  as  the 
way  it  was  told,  I  think  even  a  German  might  have 
been  shocked  ;  don't  yon  ?" 

Then  a  very  young  officer  began  a  discourse  to  prove 
that  men  were  vastly  more  moral  than  women,  but 
Osborne  said :  "  Les  homines  veulent  trouver  chez 
leurs  femmes  assez  de  vertu  pour  pouvoir  s'en  passer," 
and  everybody  laughed. 

"  I  think,"  said  Toxe,  turning  his  evil,  pitted  face 
to  me,  te  that  a  woman  would  rather  a  man  ruffled 
her  modesty  than  rumpled  her  gown." 

I  said:  "You  have  doubtless  been  in  positions  to 
judge  the  effects  of  both." 

"Gentlemen!"  said  De  Ruyter,  coldly. 

Osborne,  resting  his  arm  on  mine,  finished  his  beer 
and  stood  up. 

"  Come,  Gilbert,"  he  said,  "  there's  a  hunt  on  to 
morrow,  you  know." 

"A  gentleman  can  always  find  nobler  game,"  said 
Toxe,  distinctly. 

"  You  are  very  hard  on  the  wild  pigs,"  I  said,  look 
ing  at  him  closely. 

He  turned  pasty  with  fury  and  pushed  back  his 
chair,  but  old  De  Ruyter  struck  the  table  with 
clenched  fist,  upsetting  and  shivering  glasses  and 
decanters. 

"  Nom  de  Dieu,  assez  !"  he  roared.  e<  Who  dares 
follow  a  quarrel  under  his  Highness's  roof  and  in  the 
presence  of  his  Highness's  adjutant  ?  Colonel  Toxe, 
sit  down  !" 

Toxe  did  not  move. 

"  Sit  down  !"  repeated  De  Ruyter,  with  a  terrible 
light  in  his  near-sighted  eyes. 

219 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

Toxe  sat  down. 

"  Monsieur,"  said  De  Ruyter,  turning  to  me,  "  your 
attitude,  as  his  Highnesses  aide-de-camp,  is  neither 
dignified  nor  wise.  I  beg  you  to  withdraw  your 
offensive  expression — offensive  to  every  man  at  this 
table." 

I  bowed  instantly  to  the  old  man,  reddening  at  his 
reproof. 

"  I  had  no  intention  of  offending  xnj  gentleman  pres 
ent,"  I  said  ;  "  and  if  I  have,  it  will  give  me  the  great 
est  pleasure  to  offer  any  satisfaction — " 

"  Silence  !"  cried  De  Ruyter.  "That  is  not  what  I 
meant." 

"Oh,"  I  laughed,  "it  was  merely  a  general  compli 
ment  to  you  all." 

"  Come,  come,"  muttered  De  Ruyter,  trying  not  to 
smile. 

So  I  frankly  told  them  I  was  sorry  their  susceptibili 
ties  had  been  injured,  and  I  agreed  with  De  Ruyter 
that  this  was  not  the  place  to  discuss  differences. 

"  Nor  anywhere  else,"  he  said,  roughly. 

I  looked  directly  at  Toxe,  then  smiled  and  waited. 

Toxe,  at  De  Ruyter's  command,  withdrew  his  covert 
offer  and  threat,  and  apologised  to  the  company  with 
lips  that  trembled  and  scarcely  bottled  up  a  rage  that 
creased  his  ugly  white  face  till  every  pitted  mark  stared 
out  distinct  and  horrible. 

Then  I  went  away  with  Osborne,  who  sniffed  and 
made  ironical  comments  on  my  diplomatic  tact,  assur 
ing  me  that  when  the  Duke  heard  of  it  he'd  pack  me 
home,  and  his  Excellency  would  hurl  his  curse  and 
my  valise  after  me.  Which  proved  partly  true ;  for 
next  morning  his  Highness  sent  for  me  and  for  Toxe*, 

220 


MASKS 

and  between  him  and  his  Excellency  I  never  in  all  my 
life  had  such  a  verbal  drubbing. 

Toxe  and  I  shook  hands,  a  painful  operation  for  us 
both ;  and  an  hour  later,  humiliated  and  ashamed,  I 
went  to  my  room  to  dress  for  the  first  official  boar- 
hunt  of  the  season. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
THE    GAME    AFOOT! 

WJierein,  through  a  brave  man's  death,  I  find  it  necessary  to  ride 
for  a  brave  man's  life 


Raoul  Lartigues'  green  and  gold  huntsmen 
sounded  the  "Tryst"  under  the  forest  trees  by  the 
first  carrefour,  the  sweet  minor  music  of  the  swelling 
horns  summoned  to  the  rendezvous  two  young  people 
who  for  ten  minutes  had  sat  on  their  horses  a  little 
apart  from  the  others. 

They  walked  their  horses,  now,  slowly  towards  the 
carrefour,  where  eager  piqueurs  surrounded  his  High 
ness,  and  the  grave  Grand  Veneur,  whip  in  hand, 
watched  the  uncoupling  of  the  great  amber-eyed  boar- 
hounds. 

"I  cannot  promise/'  said  the  Countess  Amyce, 
lowering  her  voice  as  we  approached  the  others.  "I 
wish  you  would  give  me  back  my  ring." 

"Then  promise  me  one  moment  on  the  terrace,"  I 
whispered. 

"Will  you  give  me  the  ring  ?" 

"  Will  you  promise  ?" 

"  Merci  !  what  a  man  to  ask  questions.  No,  I 
won't  promise  —  now." 

"  When  ?" 

"  Never  —  perhaps." 


THE    GAME    AFOOT! 

"  Draw  bridle,  for  Heaven's  sake  !"  I  begged.  "  We 
are  close  to  them." 

She  looked  at  me,  frowned  slightly,  and  drew 
bridle. 

"They  are  casting  off,"  she  said.  "Hurry;  what 
must  I  promise  you — for  my  peace  of  mind  ?" 

"A  moment  alone  with  you  to-night  on  the  ter 
race." 

"Would  the  garden  do?"  she  asked,  innocently. 
Then  something  in  my  face  seemed  to  intimidate  her, 
and  she  lowered  her  dark  eyes  and  sat  there  silently 
in  her  saddle,  twisting  the  bridle  with  idle  fingers. 

"  Then — I  shall  wait  until  to-night,"  I  said,  scarce 
ly  controlling  my  voice. 

"  Wait — for  what  ?  All  moments  resemble  each 
other.  Do  you  fear  to  say  what  you  wish  in  day 
light  ?" 

"  No,"  I  said,  with  a  quick,  breathless  resolve.  "I 
asked  you  for  a  moment  alone  because  I  love  you — 
and  I  wished  to  tell  you  so." 

I  leaned  from  my  saddle  a  little  nearer. 

"  I  love  you,  Amyce  !     Will  you  be  my  wife  ?" 

The  wind  blew  a  silken  curling  strand  of  hair  across 
her  cheek ;  under  it  the  colour  deepened  and  deepened. 

I  waited  for  a  movement,  a  word  ;  I  distinguished 
nothing  around  me — the  forest,  the  leaping  hounds, 
the  huntsmen  vanished.  I  only  saw  that  dainty  figure 
beside  me,  in  the  saddle,  the  idle  hands  twisting  the 
bridle,  the  bent  head  and  lowered  lashes. 

Suddenly  the  whole  forest  rang  with  "  Game 
afoot !"  from  the  clanging  horns  ;  there  was  a  rustle, 
a  crash,  a  rush  of  pounding  hoofs,  and  the  hounds 
gave  tongue. 

223 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

The  Countess  sat  straight  np  in  her  saddle,  tore  one 
gantlet  from  her  white  hand,  and  held  it  out  to  me. 

"  Wear  it !"  she  whispered,  with  flaming  cheeks  ; 
and  the  next  moment  her  horse  bounded  forward 
amid  the  scurry  and  crackle  of  scattering  hounds  and 
huntsmen. 

Wear  it !  Confused,  dizzy  with  my  great  happiness, 
I  drew  the  little  glove  through  the  breast  of  my  hunt 
ing-coat,  then  flung  out  my  bridle  and  tore  after  the 
hounds.  I  saw  nothing;  leaves  swept  my  face  as  I 
flew  on,  trees,  saplings,  thickets  faded  like  phantoms. 
I  heard  nothing  save  the  echo  of  her  voice  in  my  ears, 
yet  the  horns  were  harshly  ringing  out  a  "View-hal 
loo  I"  and  the  full-chested  baying  of  the  hounds  struck 
through  musically.  It  was  due  to  my  horse  that  my 
brains  were  not  dashed  out  against  the  trees ;  I  scarcely 
touched  the  bridle  at  all.  Twice  I  jumped  water,  and 
once  floundered  in  a  marsh.  The  country  was  break 
neck,  and  atrocious ;  I  passed  Toxe,  furious,  caged  in 
an  abatis  of  dead-falls  ;  I  saw  G-iroux,  unhorsed,  chas 
ing  his  mount  piteously,  aided  by  his  Excellency,  who 
had  apparently  had  enough. 

Osborne,  Bettina,  and  the  Duchess  came  galloping 
down  a  marshy  sentier,  close  to  the  ragged  tail  of  the 
pack ;  but  the  Duke  and  De  Ruyter  had  been  thrown 
out,  and  I  saw  them  signal  to  the  Duchess  to  cross 
diagonally  the  wooded  incline  to  the  right. 

For  a  moment  I  had  a  full  view  of  the  chase,  piqueurs 
galloping,  hounds  wheeling  into  the  eastern  woods; 
and  I  saw  Amyce  turn  her  head  and  look  across  at  me. 

The  next  ten  minutes  was  a  pace  to  kill;  one  by 
one  the  huntsmen  dropped  out  or  came  to  grief.  De 
Ruyter  was  penned  in  and  finally  lost  among  the 

224 


THE    GAME    AFOOT! 

swamp  alders ;  Bettina  and  Osborne  seemed  to  be  lost 
too,  although  I  couldn't  see  what  prevented  them 
from  cutting  across  where  I  did.  I  caught  a  glimpse 
of  the  Duchess  pulling  up  her  horse  and  the  Duke  dis 
mounting  to  examine  the  animal's  fetlock.  One  after 
another  I  met  wandering  huntsmen,  searching  for  the 
trail  or  listening  vainly  for  the  signalling  horns  that 
grew  fainter  and  fainter.  Still  I  rode  on,  trusting  to 
that  star  that  sometimes  rises  when  a  man  makes  it  rise, 
and  at  last  I  stumbled  into  the  bulk  of  the  pack,  run 
ning  swiftly  and  silently,  tongues  lolling  and  thick 
with  dust  and  froth.  After  them  pounded  Latrille, 
all  alone ;  and  when  he  saw  me  he  set  his  horn  to 
his  mouth  and  sounded  a  beautiful  "  View-halloo  !" 
but  I  saw  nothing  of  the  boar  and  answered  it  with 
"  Game  afoot !"  blown  fairly  well  for  an  amateur. 

All  at  once  there  came  an  infernal  uproar  from  the 
hounds,  a  rush  of  a  heavy  body  through  the  under 
brush,  and  Latrille  drew  bridle  and  sounded  his  horn 
until  the  echoes  clashed  back  the  stirring  call,  "At 
bay !" 

And  now  I  saw  the  boar — a  great  silvery-gray  beast, 
quick  as  a  panther,  red-eyed,  covered  with  froth,  and 
every  bristle  on  end. 

His  long,  sharp,  furry  muzzle,  armed  with  dazzling 
curved  tusks,  worked  and  wrinkled  back  as  hound 
after  hound  ran  up,  splitting  the  air  with  hysterical 
yelps.  Already  two  young  dogs  lay  dead  under  his 
black  and  gray  bulk  ;  he  planted  his  pointed,  polished 
hoofs  in  the  moss  and  hurled  another  hound  headlong 
through  the  briers. 

Latrille  dismounted  and  drew  his  boar-knife,  but  I 
shouted  to  him  to  wait  until  the  hounds  had  some 
p  225 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

hold.  He  paid  no  attention  to  me ;  in  truth  there 
was  scarcely  time,  for  the  boar  charged  him  without 
hesitation,  and  the  next  moment  there  was  a  confused 
whirlwind  of  dogs,  boar,  and  Latrille  which  sent  me 
to  the  ground  in  a  hurry,  boar-knife  drawn. 

When  the  boar  saw  me  he  turned  and  charged  me, 
but  by  that  time  the  pack  had  a  hold  that  told  heavily, 
and  I  saw  them  drag  the  furious  creature  down  into  a 
hollow,  fighting,  snarling,  and  howling. 

I  ran  to  Latrille,  but  he  was  past  all  aid.  However, 
I  lifted  his  head  and  laid  him  against  a  tree,  and  at 
that  moment  Toxe  galloped  up  to  where  I  stood. 

"Dismount,"  I  said.  "The  dogs  are  holding  the 
boar,  but  if  he  charges  I  don't  think  I  can  save 
Latrille." 

To  my  amazement  Toxe  turned  quite  pale,  and 
looked  at  Latrille  with  a  sickly,  fixed  grin  that  made 
me  furious. 

"He's  dead— isn't  he  ?"  stammered  Toxe. 

"  He's  dying,"  I  said.    "  Get  off  your  horse,  quick  !" 

Then  the  boar  shook  off  the  hounds  in  the  gully, 
and  rose,  swinging  right  and  left  with  bloody  tusks, 
and  the  next  moment  Toxe  wheeled  his  horse  and  gal 
loped  away  in  mad  flight. 

Stunned  by  his  incredible  cowardice,  I  could  not 
even  find  my  voice  to  bid  him  stay  his  shameful  flight, 
and  perhaps  it  was  well  that  I  did  not,  for  at  the 
sound  of  my  voice  the  boar  might  have  charged  me 
again,  and  what  would  have  become  of  the  dying  man 
or  of  me  either  is  a  matter  I  seldom  speculate  on. 

The  boar  stood  a  moment,  reeking  with  foam, 
covered  with  leaves  and  sticks  ;  the  hounds  howled  in 
a  circle,  noses  pointed  heavenward.  The  boar  was  a 

226 


THE    GAME    AFOOT! 

"gray-boar/''  an  old  devil  incarnate,  and  perhaps  a 
match  for  such  young  dogs,  even  reinforced  as  they 
were  by  two  of  the  old  couples. 

"Take  off  my  coat/'  gasped  Latrille. 

I  managed  to  do  it,  looking  over  my  shoulder  to 
watch  the  boar.  Luckily  the  dogs  kept  him  busy. 

Then,  very  quietly,  Latrille  died  there  in  my  arms — 
this  smooth-faced,  effeminate  young  man,  shallow- 
minded,  dissipated,  treacherous  maybe;  yet  he  died 
without  a  complaint  in  the  midst  of  terrible  suffer 
ings  ;  and  I  threw  his  jacket  over  his  face  and  took 
off  my  cap. 

The  boar  had  backed  down  a  long  narrow  gorge, 
face  to  the  hounds.  I  would  have  sounded  the  call ' '  At 
bay !"  but  I  felt  more  like  sounding  the  "  Death  !"  for 
poor  Latrille. 

And,  as  I  stood  there  waiting  for  somebody  to  come 
up,  Raoul  Lartigues  appeared,  leading  his  horse,  fol 
lowed  by  the  Countess  Amyce,  mounted. 

I  beckoned  Lartigues  and  warned  Amyce  back. 

"  Dead  ?"  whispered  the  Grand  Veneur. 

"It  is  a  gray-boar,"  I  said,  quietly;  "a  moi,  Mon 
sieur  le  Grand  Veneur/' 

He  nodded  and  knelt  by  the  motionless  form  under 
the  tree.  I  put  on  my  cap  and  walked  down  into  the 
gully,  boar-knife  glittering  in  the  faint  forest  light. 

It  was  no  triumph  ;  the  boar  charged  clumsily  and 
the  good  hounds  deserve  the  credit.  But  it  was  new 
to  me,  except  in  theory,  and  my  hand  trembled  as  I 
wiped  the  shining  blade  on  the  moss  and  set  the  horn 
to  my  parched  lips  and  blew  the  "  Death  I"  As  I 
passed  out  of  the  gully,  I  mechanically  stopped  to 
pick  up  some  folded  papers,  dropped  from  poor  La- 

227 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

trille's  coat  when  the  boar  first  struck  him.  Then  I 
walked  on  to  where  Amyce  sat  silently  on  her  horse, 
face  averted  from  the  tree  under  which  Lartigues  and 
two  piqueurs  stood  around  Latrille's  body. 

"It  is  frightful,"  she  said,  in  a  hushed  voice — "I 
can't  realise  it!  I — I  danced  with  him  last  night." 

(( He  was  a  brave  man,"  I  said. 

More  huntsmen  arrived  on  jaded  or  limping  horses, 
and  the  dusty  stragglers  of  the  pack  followed  to  heel, 
jowls  all  dust  and  lather,  tails  adroop. 

When  his  Highness  and  the  Duchess  appeared,  and 
I  had  told  what  I  knew,  Amyce  turned  away  to  join 
them,  leaving  me  with  the  silent  huntsmen. 

I  sat  down  on  a  log,  and,  scarcely  conscious  of  what 
I  was  doing,  unfolded  Latrille's  papers — the  papers 
that  I  had  picked  up  in  the  path. 

The  next  moment  I  was  on  my  feet,  terribly  excited, 
but  striving  to  maintain  outward  calm — the  first  in 
stinct  of  the  Anglo-Saxon. 

"  Where  is  Prince  Edric  ?"  I  asked  the  Duke. 

"He  was  not  invited,"  said  his  Highness,  dryly. 

Amyce  looked  at  me  inquiringly.  She  saw  the  papers 
in  my  hand  and  motioned  me  to  her  side. 

"It  is  nothing,"  I  said  ;  "  but  I  must  ride  to  Wiltz 
at  once ;  I  must  see  Edric.  Will  you  believe  it  is  ne 
cessity  that  drives  me  from  you  ?" 

She  looked  at  me  so  strangely  that  I  tried  to  smile, 
assuring  her  that  there  was  nothing  that  need  alarm 
anybody  in  my  sudden  flight. 

But  now  other  people  came  up  and  I  could  say 
nothing  more,  although  I  felt  her  eyes  following  my 
every  movement  as  I  flung  myself  on  my  horse  and 
gathered  bridle. 

228 


THE    GAME    AFOOT! 

"  Do  not  go,"  she  said,  in  a  voice  that  sounded  harsh 
and  strained.  But  I  had  only  time  for  a  word  to  her, 
an  excuse  to  his  Highness  and  the  Duchess,  then  I 
galloped  out  into  the  wood-road  and  set  spurs  for  a 
ride  that  might  be  a  ride  for  life — the  life  of  a  man  I 
held  very  dear. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THE   SNARE 
How  the  setting  of  one  trap  sprung  another 

IH  the  golden  light  of  the  forest,  under  the  cluster 
ing  boughs  where  green  leaves  nickered  and  shadows 
moved,  death  seemed  very  far  away. 

As  I  rode  the  forest  brook  kept  pace  with  me,  bab 
bling  of  deep  meadows,  and,  from  the  arched  oaks,  high- 
spanned,  leaf-laced  against  the  blue,  the  little  wood- 
birds  sang  and  sang  and  scattered  away  into  flight 
through  sun-shot  vistas  before  the  tossing  crest  of  my 
hard-spurred  horse. 

But  Death  was  in  the  forest,  and  I  was  Death's 
messenger,  sweeping  on  through  the  pleasant  golden 
light,  the  perfume  of  fresh  winds  in  my  face, the  happy 
song  of  living  things  in  my  ears. 

As  I  rode  I  thought  of  the  dead,  back  there  some 
where  among  the  bracken,  white  face  skyward,  dead 
eyes  reflecting  the  passing  clouds  that  they  could  not 
see.  It  was  a  brave,  foolish  death — a  young  man's 
death — a  death  among  the  sweet  wild  ferns  under  a 
summer  sky. 

Straight  through  the  sun-rays,  barring  the  path  with 
floating  gilded  dust,  I  plunged,  and  entered  the  \yiltz 
road  at  a  sharp  gallop. 

What  should  I  say  to  Prince  Edric  ?  In  my  clenched 
hand  I  clutched  papers  that  called  on  him  to  lead  the 

230 


THE    SNARE 

army  and  seize  the  power — the  power  of  a  government 
which  had  received  him  and  sheltered  him  when  his  own 
country  and  his  own  Emperor  denied  him  the  freedom 
and  liberty  of  its  poorest  peasant.  These  were  the 
dead  man's  papers,  this  the  bitter  heritage  of  a  reck 
less  and  gallant  death — treason  !  But  that  no  longer 
concerned  the  dead  —  already,  perhaps,  before  the 
Great  Court-martial — it  concerned  the  living  and  all 
that  was  worth  living  for — honour. 

Now,  sweeping  steadily  onward,  leaving  a  whirling 
pillar  of  red  dust  behind,  I  could  distinguish  the  Wiltz 
Lodge  through  the  thickets  to  the  left.  The  place 
appeared  to  be  deserted  ;  the  piazza  was  empty,  the 
wooden  window-shutters  closed  and  barred  outside. 

Hoping  against  hope  that  Edric  might  not  be  away 
in  the  forest  on  some  scientific  excursion,  I  wheeled 
my  tired  horse  heavily  up  to  the  gate  and  jumped  to 
the  gravel  walk. 

"Ohe  !  Nicola  !"  I  shouted  ;  but  the  blond  servant 
did  not  respond ;  and  I  tied  the  reeking  horse  to  the 
ring  in  the  gate-post  and  walked  swiftly  to  the  piazza. 

Twice  I  rang  at  the  bronze  bell ;  the  second  time, 
listening  close  to  the  door,  I  fancied  I  heard  somebody 
move  a  chair  in  the  breakfast-room. 

"Nicola  !"  I  called,  pounding  on  the  door;  "wake 
up,  idiot  \"  But  to  my  surprise  the  door  gave  way 
under  my  push  and  swung  noiselessly  inward,  and  at 
the  same  moment  I  received  a  terrific  blow  between 
the  eyes. 

The  next  thing  I  knew  I  was  stumbling,  flung  for 
ward  among  a  crowd  of  figures  that  pushed  up  close 
around  me  in  the  darkened  hallway,  then  hurled  me 
headlong  through  a  doorway  into  a  dark  room.  The 

231 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

door  behind  me  slammed  ;  somebody  locked  it  from 
the  outside  ;  then  all  grew  still. 

There  was  a  man  holding  a  candle  in  the  darkened 
room  with  me,  but  I  was  too  dizzy  from  the  effects  of 
the  blow  to  see  him  clearly. 

I  recognised  his  voice  first ;  then,  when  the  mist 
cleared  from  my  eyes,  I  saw  the  man  was  Prince  Edric, 
standing  there  in  his  shirt-sleeves,  the  light  of  a  candle 
playing  over  his  face. 

"  What  the  devil's  the  matter  ?"  he  asked. 

I  stood  up,  shook  myself,  and  stared  blankly  at  the 
bolted  door  and  locked  shutters.  As  I  turned  around 
on  him,  mutely,  he  set  the  candle  on  a  table  with  a 
gesture  of  caution,  and  pointed  towards  the  door. 

"  At  eight  o'clock  this  morning  your  Duke's  soldiers 
came  here,  arrested  me  while  I  was  dressing,  and  locked 
me  in  here,"  he  said, grimly.  "Do  you  know  why  ?" 

"  Arrested  you  !"  I  repeated,  mechanically. 

He  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  sat  down  beside  the 
table. 

(e  I've  been  here  all  day  and  I'm  getting  tired.  How 
did  you  come  here  ?" 

I  tried  to  collect  my  thoughts,  but  what  with  the 
unexpectedness  of  the  assault  on  me  and  the  astound 
ing  news  of  Prince  Edric's  arrest,  I  found  nothing 
coherent  to  tell  him. 

"  You  don't  mean  to  tell  me  you  are  a  prisoner, 
too  ?"  he  laughed,  incredulously. 

"  Well,  I  didn't  enter  this  room  like  a  free  agent, 
did  I  ?"  I  asked,  much  annoyed. 

"Hush  !"  he  motioned ;  "there  are  two  dozen  sol 
diers  in  the  house;  they're  probably  listening  at  the 
door.  They've  been  quiet  as  mice  all  day.  I  heard 

232 


THE    SNAKE 

your  horse's  hoofs  outside  ;  I  heard  you  shout  for 
Nicola,  and  I  thought  to  myself,  '  Here's  Hardy.  Now 
Fll  know  what  all  this  row  is  about."' 

"Do  you  mean  to  say  you  were  arrested  by  the 
Duke's  orders  ?"  I  asked,  in  amazement. 

"  I  saw  no  warrant ;  the  soldiers  said  it  was  ordered; 
they  were  twenty  or  more  to  one.  I  went  with  them 
quietly,  and  here  I've  been  all  day !" 

"Edric,"  I  said,  under  my  breath,  "I  don't  believe 
the  Duke  had  you  arrested." 

He  raised  his  eyebrows,  but  said  nothing. 

"Did  you  recognise  any  of  the  soldiers,"  I  went 
on,  anxiously,  ' '  or  any  officers  ?" 

"  N"o — that  is,  there  was  an  officer  with  them — a 
pock-pitted  colonel — what's  his  name  ?" 

"  Toxe  ?"  I  cried. 

"Hush  !  Yes,  but  he  was  not  in  uniform  ;  he  was 
dressed  for  a  boar-hunt.  I  heard  the  '  Tryst '  sounded 
half  an  hour  later,  out  there  in  the  woods  somewhere." 

I  looked  desperately  around ;  I  went  over  and 
touched  the  locked  door,  the  closed  shutters  of  solid 
oak,  bound  with  steel. 

"No  use,"  smiled  Edric;  "I've  tried  all  that. 
Have  you  any  theory  about  this  affair,  Hardy  ?" 

"  Oh  yes,  I  have  a  theory/'  I  replied,  in  despair, 
and  I  flung  the  papers,  which  I  had  found  in  the  forest, 
on  the  table  before  him. 

He  looked  up  at  me  questioningly,  then  unfolded 
the  traitorous  memoranda,  and  read  cooly  to  the  end. 

"Faugh  !"  he  cried,  with  a  scowl  of  disgust.  "Is 
Athel  of  Luxembourg  fool  enough  to  believe  such 
nonsense  ?"  As  he  spoke  he  glanced  up  again,  meet 
ing  my  eyes  disdainfully ;  then,  starting  to  his  feet  he 

233 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

stared  at  me,  while  an  ugly,  sullen  flush  mounted  to 
his  temples.  And  now  his  face  grew  fierce  in  its  tense 
lines ;  his  lips  shrank  back,  his  eyes  glittered,  and  I 
caught  a  sparkle  of  white  teeth  under  his  short  mus 
tache. 

"  By  God  I"  he  said,  in  a  voice  scarcely  human  ; 
"  if  you — or  anybody  believes  this  shameful  lie — " 

I  could  have  laughed  from  sheer  joy  ;  for  although 
I  had  never  for  a  moment  credited  what  seemed  to  be 
absolute  proofs  of  Edric's  treachery,  I  had  felt  the 
need  of  confronting  him  with  them  without  a  second's 
needless  delay.  That  was  why  I  had  galloped,  ventre- 
d-terre,  to  Wiltz  Lodge — galloped  into  an  ambuscade 
which  I  could  never  have  foreseen  had  I  ten  times  the 
diplomatic  ability  that  I  ought  to  possess.  Edric  had 
watched  my  face  and  read  every  thought ;  and  now  he 
sat  down  again  at  his  little  table,  head  bent,  staring 
at  the  paper  in  his  nervous  hands. 

The  situation  was  certainly  desperate  enough.  The 
Luxembourg  army  was  apparently  on  the  eve  of  revolt, 
determined  to  overthrow  the  Duke  and  acclaim  Prince 
Edric,  of  Prussia,  King  of  Luxembourg. 

"  Athel  can't  believe  I  knew  of  this,"  he  said, 
piteously — ' '  he  can't  believe  it,  can  he,  Hardy  ?  If  I 
were  ignoble  enough  to  accept  the  shelter  of  a  country 
and  then  plot  to  steal  it,  I  at  least  would  have  the 
courage  to  place  myself  at  the  head  of  the  revolt  ! 
Any  fool  would  know  that,  wouldn't  he,  Hardy  ?" 

He  started  up  and  paced  the  floor.  Grief,  shame, 
horror,  changed  his  face  so  that  I  should  scarcely  have 
known  him.  He  appeared  much  older ;  those  white 
haggard  circles  under  each  eye  showed  what  the  shock 
had  been. 

234 


THE    SNARE 

I  started  again  on  a  quiet  tour  of  the  room,  gently 
testing  bolts  and  locks  until  I  saw  that  the  idea  of  es 
cape  or  of  getting  any  news  to  his  Highness  was,  as 
far  as  we  were  concerned,  probably  out  of  the  ques 
tion. 

"If  we  could  persuade  them  to  unbar  that  door 
for  a  second,"  whispered  Edric. 

I  nodded  and  drew  my  long  boar-knife  ;  he  wrenched 
a  heavy  chair  to  pieces  and  twisted  off  the  rungs,  mak 
ing  as  little  noise  as  possible.  I  fancy  the  soldiers 
must  have  heard  the  splintering,  for  they  neither  re 
sponded  to  our  knocking  nor  did  they  even  answer  us, 
although  I  could  hear  them  moving  on  the  other  side 
of  the  door. 

I  went  to  one  of  the  locked  shutters  and  worked  at 
it  with  my  boar-knife.  It  was  slow  progress,  and,  at 
that  rate,  I  could  not  have  pierced  the  smallest  hole 
in  the  oak  before  night.  I  knew  it,  but  worked 
feverishly. 

"  Where  is  the  Dnke  ?"  asked  Edric,  behind  me. 

(i  Hunting  ;  the  others  are  with  him  too,"  I  replied, 
slashing  away  at  the  shutter.  While  I  worked  with 
the  long  knife  I  told  Edric  all  that  had  occurred  since 
the  horns  sounded  the  "  Tryst"  under  the  green  leaves 
in  the  carrefour  on  this  fatal  September  morning. 

At  last,  hopeless,  I  stepped  back,  opening  and  clos 
ing  my  cramped,  blistered  hands,  convinced  that  it  was 
time  wasted  to  seek  for  escape  in  that  direction. 

"You  are  right,"  muttered  Edric;  "we  must  try 
something  quicker." 

"  If  we  can't  get  to  the  Dnke  before  he  returns  to 
Wilverwiltz  the  game  is  up,"  I  said,  bitterly.  "  What 
the  devil  are  we  to  do  ?" 

235 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

Had  there  been  a  heavy  bit  of  furniture  in  the  room 
we  might  have  battered  the  shutters  outward.  There 
was  nothing,  save  a  flimsy  table.  Edric  picked  it  up 
and  drove  it  with  all  the  strength  of  his  arms  and 
body  against  the  shutters  ;  they  rang  out  soundly  and 
solidly  ;  the  table  crashed  to  kindling-wood  and  shat 
tered  every  pane  in  the  doorlike  windows. 

We  were  standing  there,  backs  to  the  door,  regard 
ing  our  work  with  troubled  hearts,  when,  behind  us, 
the  door  opened,  then  slammed  again  with  the  click 
of  keys  turning.  The  wind  from  the  opening  and 
closing  door  extinguished  the  candle. 

"  There's  somebody  in  the  room,"  whispered  Edric ; 
"  be  ready  ;  I  have  a  match." 

His  match  cracked  and  blazed.  I  saw  two  dark 
figures  leaning  back  against  the  closed  door  as  Edric, 
face  and  hands  reflecting  the  red  flame  of  the  match, 
crossed  the  room  and  relighted  the  candle. 

It  was  the  Countess  Amyce  who  stood  before  us. 
Toxe  leaned  against  the  bolted  door. 

Instantly  the  Countess  turned  on  Edric,  her  dark 
eyes  sparkling  in  the  candle-glow,  her  scarlet  hunting- 
habit  looped  to  the  girdle,  from  which  hung  a  jewelled 
boar-knife. 

"You  traitor  !"  she  gasped. 

I  stepped  forward,  aghast,  but  she  faced  me,  mo 
tioning  me  back.  The  white  scorn  of  her  brow  left 
me  speechless. 

f '  It  was  I  who  ordered  your  arrest  I"  she  said, 
breathlessly,  crossing  the  room  to  where  Prince 
Edric  stood  with  both  hands  on  the  back  of  his 
chair. 

There  was  a  moment  of  painful  silence,  broken  by 
236 


THE    SNARE 

a  sharp  echoing  blow  from  her  riding-crop  on  the  desk 
where  the  traitorous  memoranda  lay.     And  : 

"  That  is  the  reason  !"  she  cried,  striking  the  papers 
again  and  again  with  the  horn-handled  crop. 

"You  believe  me  guilty,  madame  ?"  stammered  the 
Prince,  utterly  taken  aback. 

"  Guilty !  Your  own  spies  have  betrayed  you. 
Shame  !  I  had  those  very  papers  from  your  creature, 
Vossburg  !  God  help  you,  Prince  Edric  I" 

The  Prince  turned  to  me  with  a  ghastly  smile  and 
would  have  spoken,  but  Amyce,  her  black  eyes  flash 
ing,  stepped  between  us  and,  with  a  swift  movement, 
tore  the  little  glove  from  where  it  hung  between  the 
buttons  on  my  hunting-coat.  I  turned  cold  from  head 
to  foot. 

"Are  you  mad  ?"  I  said,  hoarsely  ;  my  lips  scarcely 
formed  the  words. 

"  Oh,"  she  cried,  "  this  dishonor  adds  nothing  to 
your  degradation  !  A  man  who  betrays  his  sovereign 
can  look  unmoved  on  the  woman  who  believed  in  him !" 

I  tried  to  speak ;  I  could  not.  Her  words  stabbed 
like  a  blade — to  the  heart. 

"  You  left  me  to  gallop  to  your  fellow-conspirator, 
here,  with  news  that  Major  Latrille  had  been  killed, 
because  you  had  found  on  that  brave  man's  body 
the  proofs  that  others  knew  of  your  treachery  I" 

"  Latrille  was  a  traitor!"  I  cried.  "Good  God! 
can't  you  understand  that  you  have  been  duped  ?" 

"  Shame  !"  she  said,  steadily.  "  I  myself  gave  him 
those  papers  after  they  had  been  sold  to  me  by  your 
vile  spies.  I  myself  ordered  Prince  Edric's  arrest  !" 

She  lifted  the  hem  of  her  skirt  and  stepped  back 
daintily,  her  scornful  eyes  on  me  : 

237 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"I  saw  you  take  the  papers  and  ride  away.  I 
could  not  believe  you  would  do  it — I  could  not  make 
myself  believe  you  would  come  here  to  warn  that — 
that  traitor  !" 

Edric  came  silently  to  my  side. 

"Poor  little  fool  !"  he  muttered.  "She  has  done  a 
sorry  day's  work,  and  the  worst  will  come  when  she 
finds  it  out." 

The  worst  was  coming  now.  There  sounded  the  rush 
of  heavy  feet  along  the  road  outside,  the  noise  of 
many  voices,  the  clank  of  bayonets,  a  savage  cheer : 
"  Death  to  the  Duke  I" 

The  Countess,  incredulous,  horrified,  sprang  from 
her  chair  and  looked  at  Toxe.  He  returned  her  star 
tled  glance,  unmoved. 

"  What — what  does  that  mean  ?"  she  stammered. 

"It  means,  madame,  that  you  are  my  prisoner!" 
sneered  Toxe,  flinging  open  the  door  behind  him. 
The  hallway  was  choked  with  soldiers. 

The  little  Countess  of  Wilverwiltz  passed  her  gloved 
hand  over  her  eyes,  then  turned  white  as  death  and 
swayed  backward.  There  was  a  chair  beside  me.  I 
placed  it  close  to  her,  and  she  sank  into  it,  covering 
her  head  with  both  arms. 

"  The  revolt  is  accomplished,  your  Highness,"  said 
Toxe,  bowing  where  he  stood,  cap  in  hand.  "The 
Luxembourg  regiment  has  gone  to  the  chateau,  where 
the  Duke  and  Duchess  will  be  held  at  your  Highnesses 
pleasure." 

Dumb  with  astonishment,  I  saw  Edric,  serene, 
impassive,  return  Toxe's  salute,  and  step  for 
ward. 

"  Your  next  step,  Colonel  Toxe,  will  be  to  send  a 
238 


THE    SNARE 

messenger  to  the  German  army  across  the  frontier, 
will  it  not  ?"  he  asked,  smiling. 

"Exactly,  your  Highness,"  said  Toxe,  with  his  evil 
leer;  "anarchy  in  Luxembourg  requires  German  in 
tervention — perhaps  German  bayonets." 

There  was  a  sudden  scuffle  in  the  hallway  among 
the  soldiers.  Toxe  looked  around,  scowling. 

"It's  old  De  Ruyter,"  he  sneered  ;  "they  want  to 
shoot  him  in  the  garden." 

"Shoot  De  Ruyter!"  laughed  Edric;  "'not  a  bit  of 
it.  Bring  him  here,  Colonel  Toxe,  and  let  me  try  my 
persuasion." 

The  ignoble  scene  that  followed  left  me  without  a 
shred  of  faith  in  any  human  being ;  for  no  sooner  had 
De  Ruyter  been  shoved  into  the  room  than  Edric 
passed  his  arm  through  the  arm  of  the  old  soldier, 
and  led  him  away  to  the  embrasure  of  a  window. 
There  they  stayed  so  long  that  the  mutinous  soldiers 
began  to  grow  impatient,  and  cries  of  "  Down  with  De 
Ruyter  !  Death  to  him !"  brought  Edric  back  in  a 
towering  rage. 

"Colonel  Toxe,"  he  said,  icily,  "your  discipline  is 
shameful  !  The  next  man  who  raises  a  seditious  cry 
will  be  shot  on  the  spot." 

Toxe  wheeled  in  his  tracks  and  bellowed  threats  at 
the  troops  behind  him,  which  certainly  had  the  designed 
effect.  They  were  painfully  silent  until  Edric,  lead 
ing  De  Ruyter  back  from  the  window,  said  in  a  per 
fectly  distinct  voice  : 

"  Colonel  de  Ruyter  is  with  me.  I  take  him  as  my 
aide-de-camp  I" 

"Hurrah!"  shouted  the  soldiers,  surging  forward 
and  swinging  their  caps  ;  but  Toxe  flung  his  huge 

239 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

bulk  against  them,  menacing  them  with  his  sabre  un 
til  they  fell  back  into  the  hallway  again. 

"Is  there  a  horse  ready?"  asked  Edric,  in  calm, 
even  tones. 

"  Twenty/'  replied  Toxe.  "  Is  Colonel  de  Ruyter  to 
ride  to  the  German  army  ?" 

"Do  you  often  ask  questions  of  your  superiors  ?" 
inquired  Edric,  coldly. 

Toxe  saluted,  stammering  excuses  ;  then  in  a  brutal 
voice  he  vented  his  wrath  on  his  men,  ordering  them 
to  clear  the  passage  and  bring  a  horse  for  Colonel  de 
Ruyter.  As  that  gray-haired  old  officer  passed  us  with 
bent  head  and  face  averted  I  turned  my  back,  unable 
to  look  upon  such  dishonour. 

Never  once  did  Edric  glance  at  me  during  the  whole 
miserable  scene.  The  young  Countess,  head  buried  in 
her  arms,  sat  by  the  desk  where  the  candle-flame 
drifted  and  flared  in  every  gust  of  wind.  I  pitied 
her. 

"What  is  your  Highnesses  pleasure  concerning  the 
prisoner,  Hardy  If"  sneered  Toxe. 

At  the  word  "prisoner,"  the  Countess  looked  up 
just  in  time  to  see  two  soldiers  place  themselves  on 
either  side  of  me,  bayonets  fixed.  In  a  moment  she 
was  at  my  side,  her  eyes  bright  with  tears  ;  and  she 
took  both  my  hands  in  hers,  looking  earnestly  up  into 
my  face. 

"  No  scenes — do  you  hear  ?"  shouted  Toxe. 

"  Silence  I"  cried  Prince  Edric,  sternly. 

"But  those  two  prisoners,"  said  Toxe,  with  a  jerk 
of  his  thumb,  "'are  dangerous  to  the  welfare  of  Lux 
embourg,  your  Highness.  Fve  arranged  to  send  them 


to  Belgium." 


240 


THE    SNARE 

"I  don't  think  they  are  dangerous,,"  smiled  Edric, 
looking  at  me  ;  "  set  them  at  liberty." 

Toxe  hesitated,  scowling ;  but  the  Prince  said 
"  Well  ?"  so  sharply  that  he  touched  his  shako  and 
motioned  to  his  soldiers. 

Leading  Amyce,  I  moved  slowly  towards  the  door, 
then  looked  back  at  Edric.  He  stood,  arms  folded, 
head  erect,  and  met  my  gaze  with  cold,  inscrutable 
eyes. 

If  I  had  had  my  revolver  I  would  have  killed  him 
where  he  stood. 

The  soldiers  parted  sullenly  as  we  passed  through 
the  hallway  into  the  free  air  outside,  where  a  flaming 
sunset  lay  straight  before  us  over  the  million  leaves 
of  the  forest.  Toxe  followed,  his  evil  eyes  roaming 
restlessly  about. 

"  Wait  I"  he  cried,  as  I  led  Amyce  through  the  gate. 
"  Til  risk  sending  you  across  the  frontier  on  my  own 
responsibility.  Come  back,  do  you  hear  ?" 

Before  I  could  protest  he  shouted  an  order,  and,  to 
my  disgust,  old  Vossburg  and  Wiepert,  armed  with 
drawn  revolvers,  stepped  from  the  bushes  across  the 
road  and  advanced,  smirking  and  leering. 

"  March  I"  said  Toxe,  briefly. 

"Do  you  intend  to  drive  a  woman  across  the 
frontier  to-night  ?"  I  asked,  steadying  my  voice  with 
an  effort. 

"  I  do,"  grinned  Toxe.    "  Come  !  pack  !" 

My  hand  flew  to  my  boar-knife — and  touched  an 
empty  leather  scabbard.  Vossburg  had  slipped  the 
weapon  from  its  sheath  on  my  hip,  and  now  he  tossed 
it  on  the  grass,  leering  and  mouthing  and  laughing 
his  crazy  falsetto  laugh. 

Q  241 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

Amyce  laid  her  hand  on  my  arm ;  she  trembled  a 
little,  but  said,  quietly :  ' '  Come — it  is  best." 

We  walked  for  a  long  time  in  perfect  silence  save 
for  the  cracked  treble  laughter  of  old  Vossburg  and 
the  wheezing  of  Wiepert.  After  a  while,  however, 
they  began  to  taunt  us,  sneering  at  the  deception 
they  had  practiced  on  the  Countess;  even,  at  times, 
menacing  me  with  a  short  shrift. 

"  It's  ten  miles  to  the  frontier,"  observed  Wiepert. 
"  Fve  a  mind  to  settle  your  affair  here,  you  pig  of  a 
Yankee  I" 

"Te-he!  he!"  yelped  old  Vossburg.  "  Nobody  would 
know — nobody  would  know !  We  could  put  you  in 
the  swamp — deep  !  deep ! — nobody  would  know !" 

If  they  had  not  kept  just  out  of  reach  I  should 
have  made  an  attempt,  hopeless  as  it  was;  but  they 
worked  together  like  two  ferrets,  and  their  weapons 
were  swinging  in  their  hands  as  they  walked. 

Twice  we  left  the  forest  path  to  take  short  cuts 
through  the  underbrush,  and  Amyce's  gown  was  torn 
with  briers  and  her  little  gloves  ripped  from  brushing 
the  bending  thorn  branches. 

The  dim  light  in  the  forest,  now  that  the  sun  had 
nearly  set,  evidently  bothered  old  Vossburg.  He 
peered  about  with  his  weak,  red-rimmed  eyes,  feeling 
his  way,  uncanny  fingers  spread  like  puffy  claws. 
Finally  Wiepert  came  around  to  whisper  to  him,  and 
they  both  halted,  looking  at  me.  In  a  flash  I  under 
stood  that  the  same  thought  which  was  occupying  me 
had  also  entered  their  heads — namely,  that  with  the 
increasing  twilight  I  would  have  a  chance  for  resist 
ance.  From  the  villanous  leer  on  Vossburg's  counte 
nance  I  also  felt  that  they  meant  murder,  and  my 

242 


THE    SNARE 

thoughts  began  to  run  very  quickly — so  quickly  that 
before  I  realised  what  I  was  doing  I  had  leaped  on 
Wiepert  and  sent  him  crashing  into  the  undergrowth. 
There  came  two  sharp  explosions,  a  cry,  as  I  struck 
Wiepert  over  the  temple;  then  we  fell,  writhing  and 
twisting  under  the  bushes,  while  old  Vossburg,  squeal 
ing  with  eagerness,  ran  around  us,  trying  to  shoot 
down  into  me.  I  held  Wiepert  as  a  shield,  staggered 
to  my  knees,  and,  flinging  him  headlong  from  me, 
jumped  behind  a  tree.  Vossburg  shot  twice. 

For  a  second  I  stood  there  breathless ;  then  Amyce 
screamed,  and  I  saw  Vossburg  on  one  side,  Wiepert  on 
the  other,  creep  forward,  circling  around  the  tree  so  I 
should  be  caught  between  them. 

There  was  only  one  thing  to  do  ;  and  as  I  sprang  out 
into  the  twilight,  Vossburg  shot  at  me,  then  stepped 
back  and  shot  again.  I  could  have  closed  with  him 
at  the  next  step  had  not  something  else  closed  on 
him — for,  with  a  whirr  and  a  snap,  a  hideous  hidden 
thing  caught  him  in  steel  fangs  and  sent  him  head 
first  into  the  undergrowth.  He  squeaked  piteously 
and  writhed.  Had  it  not  been  for  Amyce,  Wiepert 
would  have  olown  my  brains  out.  But  Amyce  flung 
herself  between  us,  though  the  brute  fired  at  me 
nevertheless,  until  I  got  him  and  jerked  his  revolver 
out  of  his  hand  and  shot  him  to  death  among  the 
briers  at  my  feet. 

Amyce  held  her  fingers  out  helplessly,  looking  at  me 
with  astonished  eyes. 

"It  burns,"  she  said,  as  I  tore  up  her  sleeve  and 
stanched  the  flow  where  a  single  bullet,  brushing  the 
white  skin,  had  left  its  stain  just  above  the  wrist. 
There  was  nothing  of  fright,  nothing  of  dismay  in  her 

243 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

wide  dark  eyes,  only  a  childlike  surprise  as  I  whipped 
my  handkerchief  tightly  around  the  wound,  leaning 
closer  to  her  in  the  gathering  forest  gloom. 

As  I  stood  there  I  heard  a  rustle,  a  twitching  among 
the  leaves,  a  faint  squeal.  It  was  Vossburg,  dying. 
He  had  been  seized  by  one  wolf-trap  and  flung  face 
downward  into  another.  There  was  no  way  to  unlock 
the  trap.  Even  a  wolf  could  not  have  lived  longer 
than  he  did. 

"  Hark  I"  she  whispered.     "  Do  you  hear  ?" 

"It  is  a  snake  in  the  brush,"  I  said,  tying  the  knot. 

I  stepped  over  to  the  thicket  and  glanced  down 
where,  in  the  shadows,  the  steel  fangs  of  the  trap 
glimmered. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

MASKS   OFF  ! 

Accounting  for  various  unaccountable  tilings,  with  a  hint  of  further 
and  more  important  revelations 

As  we  walked  through  the  gathering  dusk  and  came 
out  among  more  open  woods  above  the  Wiltz  road,  I 
saw  daylight  closing  above  the  red  cinders  of  the 
western  sun,  and  the  night  mists  floating  in  the  hol 
lows.  Eooks  called  from  tree  to  tree;  field-insects 
one  by  one  awoke,  their  chirring  gauzy  wings  beating 
the  still  sweet  rhythm  of  the  harmony  that  cradles  a 
tired  world  under  its  sheeted  stars. 

But  there  was  an  hour  of  daylight  yet  ere  the  blue 
twilight  fell  and  the  rosy  ashes  sifted  from  the  zenith — 
an  hour  that  might  save  a  ruler  to  his  people  and  a 
husband  to  his  wife. 

"If  I  can  get  to  the  frontier,"  I  said,  speaking  part 
ly  to  the  Countess,  partly  to  myself — "  if  I  can  find  a 
horse  in  this  futile  country,  perhaps  I  might  ride  to 
the  Dutch  outposts  before  De  Kuyter  reaches  the 
German  lines." 

The  Countess  began  to  cry,  small  head  bent,  wounded 
wrist  resting  helplessly  in  the  loop  I  had  fashioned 
for  her  out  of  my  baldrick.  She  trudged  along  beside 
me,  tears  on  her  curved  cheeks,  silky  hair  blowing 
across  her  eyes  —  a  most  woful  and  desolate  little 
figure. 

245 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

Distressed  and  unhappy  as  I  was  over  the  astound 
ing  treason  of  Prince  Edric,  I  pitied  her  more  than  I 
did  myself.  I  had  lost  a  friend  ;  she  was  about  to 
lose  her  country.  The  double  treachery  of  the  spies 
and  of  the  wretched  officer  who  had  betrayed  her,  the 
knowledge  that  she  had  been  duped  and  tricked  into 
conniving  at  a  shameful  conspiracy — and  that,  too,  in 
spite  of  my  warnings — left  her  at  first  stunned.  Now 
she  tasted  passionate  grief,  remorse,  the  knowledge 
that  through  her  wilful  distrust  in  everything  and 
everybody  except  herself  she,  perhaps,  had  brought 
her  country  to  ruin  and  shame  forever. 

As  for  me,  I  as  yet  scarcely  felt  the  weight  of  my 
own  responsibility — or  guilt.  No  man  living  could 
have  doubted  Prince  Edric's  loyalty;  the  Duke  had 
avoided  him  because  the  Duchess  liked  him,  not  be 
cause  he  for  one  moment  imagined  Edric  was  plotting. 
Yet  it  was  true  that  the  Countess  suspected  him,  and 
it  was  also  a  fact  that  she  had  warned  his  Highness 
and  me  of  her  suspicions,  and  we  had  disregarded 
them.  If  I  was  guilty  of  carelessness,  the  Duke,  who, 
even  after  the  evidence  of  treason  in  the  army  haugh 
tily  closed  his  eyes  to  danger,  was  also  guilty  of  graver 
neglect.  I  could  not  suspect  a  friend ;  he  could  not 
but  suspect  a  regiment  that  he  had  found  infected  at 
the  first  probing. 

"  Does  your  arm  hurt  very  much  ?"  I  asked. 

She  shook  her  head.  "  It  isn't  that,"  she  said,  piti 
fully  ;  "  I  wish  I  had  believed  you." 

"  I  wish  I  had  believed  you,  too,"  I  replied. 

"Why,"  she  said,  innocently  looking  up  at  me,  "I 
didn't  believe  it  myself  until  I  saw  that  paper.  I  only 
wanted  Edric  to  go  away  because  he  made  trouble  for 

246 


MASKS    OFF! 

the  Duchess  ;  but  when  Vossburg  brought  me  proofs 
of  his  treason — ah — then  I  should  have  taken  the 
proofs  to  you  !  It  is  too  late — now." 

She  began  to  cry  again,,  overcome  by  the  misery  that 
had  fallen  on  all  she  loved  best — fallen  through  her 
own  wilf  ulness. 

"I  wish  you  had  given  me  the  proofs  when  you  re 
ceived  them  first,"  I  said,  simply,  not  meaning  to 
hurt  her.  She  leaned  against  a  tree,  face  covered 
with  both  hands. 

I  could  find  nothing  to  say. 

The  rooks  in  the  trees  had  ceased  their  calling  ;  a 
fire-fly,  faintly  phosphorescent,  sailed  upward  through 
the  still  air. 

"  Come,"  I  said,  gently. 

"Where  ?"  she  asked,  dropping  her  hands  to  her 
sides. 

I  turned  and  looked  up  the  road.  The  chateau  lay 
there,  not  far  away,  but  the  chateau  was  already  in 
the  hands  of  the  rebellious  troops.  Had  I  been  alone, 
my  duty  would  have  been  with  his  Highness  ;  perhaps 
it  was  now.  I  could  not  leave  the  Countess ;  I  dared 
not  take  her  to  the  chateau,  not  knowing  what  danger 
there  might  be  from  the  mob.  It  was  many  miles  to 
the  Countess's  own  home,  the  big  house  at  Herault 
in  the  north.  Even  with  horses  it  was  a  day's  jour 
ney. 

"  Perhaps  Edric's  lodge  is  empty,"  I  began,  then 
stopped  short,  listening  intently. 

"  Hark  !"  whispered  the  Countess,  turning  her  head. 
"  Oh,  what  is  that  dreadful  sound  ?  Do  you  hear  ?" 

I  heard  well  enough.  Somebody  up  the  road,  not 
a  dozen  rods  away,  had  begun  to  whistle  an  air  that  I 

247 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

knew  as  well  as  I  knew  my  prayers — my  own  regi 
mental  march. 

"  That's  Osborne  !"  I  said,  excitedly.  "  He's  whis 
tling  '  Garryowen  !' " 

What  the  pipes  of  Lucknow  were  to  the  woman  on 
the  wall,  Osborne's  careless  whistle  was  to  me.  The 
next  step  brought  him  in  sight,  sauntering  down  the 
dusty  road,  hands  in  his  pockets,  head  erect,  whis 
tling  away  to  shame  the  royal  blackbird  of  Armagh. 

"  Well,  upon  my  soul  I"  he  said,  staring  up  at  us  as 
we  emerged  from  the  roadside  thicket.  "Have  you 
just  returned  from  the  frontier  ?" 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?"  I  asked.  "  Don't  you  know 
the  army  has  revolted  ?" 

"Oh  yes,  I  know  that,"  he  said,  coolly;  "but  I 
thought  you  and  madame  the  Countess  had  been 
conducted  to  the  frontier.  Don't  look  like  that, 
Gilbert." 

"  Look  like  what  ?"  I  cried,  furious  at  his  calm 
amusement.  "Perhaps  Prince  Edric has  won  you  over 
as  he  won  De  Ruyter  and  the  Luxembourg  army." 

I  spoke  in  a  passion,  and  I  repented  even  as  I  spoke, 
but,  to  my  astonishment,  Osborne  burst  into  peals  of 
laughter. 

"  The  Luxembourg  army  !"  he  cried.  "  Why,  Edric 
sent  the  entire  Luxembourg  army  into  the  chateau 
cellar  and  turned  the  key  on  them  !" 

He  laughed  until  his  eyes  grew  dim,  looking  up  at 
us  from  the  road  in  the  red  light  of  the  afterglow. 

"Edric  is  a  diplomat,  which  you  are  not,  my  son," 
he  said,  coming  up  the  grassy  slope,  where  we  stood 
speechless.  "  He  took  De  Ruyter  as  his  aide-de-camp 
and  sent  him  off,  not  to  the  Germans,  but  to  the 

248 


MASKS    OFF! 

Dutch  army,  if  yon  please — under  the  very  noses  of 
the  Luxembourg  insurgents.  Then  he  went  back  to 
the  chateau  where  the  Duke,  his  Excellency,  Giroux, 
and  myself  had  barricaded  the  terrace  and  collected 
the  foresters  and  a  few  stray  gendarmes.  His  High 
ness  was  furious  at  sight  of  Edric  and  opened  fire  on 
him  from  the  terrace,  but  Edric  quietly  drew  out  his 
white  handkerchief  and  walked  straight  out  to  the 
lawn.  '  Have  you  a  sensible  man  there  ?'  he  called 
out  to  me.  His  Excellency  restrained  the  Duke  from 
descending  and  challenging  Edric  to  combat  then  and 
there,  while  I  went  down  to  parley — being  a  sensible 
man,  you  know.  '  My  army/  said  Edric,  with  a  funny 
expression  in  his  eyes,  'has  been  shouting  until  it  is 
thirsty,  and  I  have  pledged  my  word  that  it  shall  have 
the  best  wine  in  the  Duke's  cellar/  I  tried  not  to 
laugh  ;  I  went  back  and  spoke  to  his  Excellency.  In 
spite  of  the  Duke's  objections  we  raised  the  white  flag 
on  the  terrace ;  then  Edric  ordered  Toxe  to  let  the 
army  loose  in  the  chateau  cellar,  and  when  Toxe 
began  to  shout  (  Treason  !'  Edric  took  him  by  the 
collar  and  flung  him  out  of  the  gate,  advising  him  to 
go  where  he  was  more  popular.  And  what  do  you 
think  ?  The  soldiers  cheered  !  After  that  they  went 
very  willingly,  by  companies,  to  the  cellar.  They're 
all  there  now,  locked  in,  hammering  at  the  door  or 
drowning  their  fright  in  the  Duke's  wine  and  singing 
the  ' Lorelei/" 

The  Countess  began  to  laugh  ;  an  uncontrollable  fit 
of  laughter  seized  me,  and  we  all  sat  down  on  the 
grass  and  laughed  and  laughed  until  the  dark  woods 
echoed  again. 

t(  And  the  best  of  it  is,"  cried  Osborne,  "that  Toxe 
249 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

is  at  the  "Wiltz  Railway  Station,  trying  to  telegraph  to 
William  the  Sudden ;  but  I  tapped  the  wires  two  hours 
ago  and  the  Duke  is  getting  all  his  frantic  messages  !" 

The  Countess  sprang  up,  breathless-  with  excite 
ment.  She  never  thought  of  the  wound,  she  had  for 
gotten  her  sorrow,  her  remorse,  the  bitter  chagrin.  I 
could  scarcely  see  her  eyes  in  the  dusk,  yet  I  felt  their 
sweetness  and  brightness. 

Osborne  rose ;  I  jumped  to  my  feet  and  aided  the 
Countess  to  descend  the  bank.  Both  Amyce  and  I 
were  full  of  the  excitement  of  the  situation,  yet  keen 
ly  alive  to  its  humour.  To  think  of  the  Luxembourg 
army  in  the  cellar  sent  me  into  peals  of  laughter  until 
Amyce  began  again  and  Osborne  joined  us  from  sym 
pathy. 

"I've  been  to  Saint- Yssel  on  foot,"  he  said.  "I 
telegraphed  the  Dutch  headquarters  in  case  De  Ruyter 
meets  with  delays.  It's  exciting,  isn't  it  ?  Toxe  will 
probably  ride  to  the  German  frontier  as  soon  as  he's 
finished  his  telegraphing,  and  it  would  have  been  a 
race  for  Wilverwiltz  between  William  the  Sudden  and 
the  Dutch  if  I  hadn't  tapped  the  wires.  His  Excel 
lency  suggested  it." 

As  we  approached  the  chateau,  where  every  window 
was  lighted,  I  saw  Giroux  and  his  gendarmes  patrol 
ling  the  gateways,  lanterns  swinging,  sabres  drawn. 
From  the  chateau  came  smothered  sounds — the  voices 
of  the  army  in  the  cellar,  inebriated,  chanting. 

"They're  singing  the  ' Lorelei,'"  said  Giroux,  in 
dignantly,  "  out  of  tune  !" 

I  asked  Amyce  if  she  was  tired,  but  she  cried  :  "No, 
no  !  I  shall  not  stir  from  the  terrace  until  the  Dutch 
cavalry  comes  !" 

250 


MASKS    OFF! 

Bettina  and  his  Excellency  were  on  the  terrace  ; 
Bettina  and  the  Countess  mourned  over  each  other 
enthusiastically  ;  his  Excellency  gave  me  a  dry  hand 
and  a  dryer  smile. 

" I  guess,"  he  said,  "that  they're  going  to  abolish 
the  army  after  this;  so  you  won't  be  wanted  any 
longer,  Hardy."  He  glanced  humorously  at  the 
Countess  as  he  spoke.  I  think  she  heard  him,  for 
she  turned  her  back  and  kissed  Bettina  again. 

"My  angel  child,"  she  said,  "the  horrors  I  have 
gone  through — !" 

"  Have  a  pleasant  trip  to  the  frontier,  Hardy  ?"  sug 
gested  his  Excellency. 

"  Where  is  the  Duchess  ?"  asked  the  Countess,  look 
ing  anxiously  around  at  his  Excellency. 

"I  guess,  madam,  she's  in  that  hammock  out  by 
the  lake,"  replied  his  Excellency;  "and  my  impres 
sion  is  that  the  Dook  is  with  her." 

There  was  a  sudden  silence. 

"She  had  such  a  headache,"  said  Bettina.  "The 
army  in  the  cellar  made  dreadful  noises  and  frightened 
us  all." 

Nobody  spoke. 

"The  Duke  said  he'd  go  down  and  thrash  them, 
but  the  Duchess  turned  white  and  said  he  must  not," 
continued  Bettina,  excitedly.  "Then  his  Highness 
said,  ' Bring  me  a  riding-whip;  I'll  stop  this  outrage  !' 
and  her  Highness  said,  '  Oh  Athel !'  and  put  both 
hands  on  his  shoulders." 

Bettina  looked  innocently  at  Osborne,  then  con 
tinued  :  "  That  is  why  they  are  out  there  by  the  lake 
in  a  hammock.  I  wish  the  army  would  not  sing." 

I  heard  Osborne  say  to  Bettina :  "  If  your  head 
251 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

aches — "  and  Bettina's  reply,  "  Oh  dear  no — anyway, 
nobody  would  allow  me  to  sit  in  a  hammock." 

His  Excellency  had  moved  out  of  earshot ;  Osborne 
and  Bettina,  perched  on  the  parapet,  looked  up  at  the 
new  moon  and  out  at  the  calm  dim  lake,  and  then — I 
don't  know  where  they  looked,  for  I  was  looking  at 
Amyce. 

"I  think  I  am  tired,"  she  said.  "Will  you  tell 
Prince  Edric  that  the  Countess  of  Wilverwiltz  thanks 
him  for  teaching  her  a  lesson  in  common-sense  ?" 

"  Here  he  is,  now,"  I  said,  gently. 

As  Edric  stepped  out  on  the  terrace,  she  turned  to 
him  and  held  out  both  hands.  There  were  tears  in 
her  eyes;  she  did  not  speak.  He  bent  above  her 
white  hands,  then  straightened  up,  smiling  and  mis 
chievous. 

"  Looked  like  a  villain,  didn't  I  ?"  he  suggested, 
pleasantly. 

I  said,  bitterly :  "  I  ought  to  have  known.  I  am 
not  very  intelligent  you  see." 

Amyce  glanced  at  me,  then  walked  to  the  parapet, 
and  I  saw  that  her  wistful  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  dim 
group  of  trees  beside  the  lake  where  the  Duke  and 
Duchess  moved  slowly  up  and  down,  close  together, 
under  the  new  moon. 

Edric  and  I  watched  them  too,  listening  to  the 
smothered  howls  from  the  imprisoned  army,  the 
fainter  murmuring  of  Osborne  and  Bettina,  the  stir 
of  breezes  in  the  forest,  the  whisper  of  leaves  on  the 
terrace. 

There  came  another  sound,  too,  at  first  far  off,  but 
now  nearer,  ever  nearer — a  dull  beating  that  grew  into 
a  throb,  then  a  thudding  tattoo,  vibrating  through  the 

252 


"THE  QUEEN  HAD  STOPPED  FULL  IN  THE  RADIANCE  OP  THE 
TERRACE  LAMPS" 


MASKS    OFF! 

night.  I  knew  what  it  was ;  so  did  Edric.  The  gen 
darmes  at  the  lower  gateways  called  the  "Alert/' then 
rode  out  to  the  great  park  gate  where,  from  the 
shrouded  woods,  a  stream  of  torches,  one  after  an 
other,  flashed  along  in  an  irregular  line.  The  torches 
were  carried  by  horsemen,  great  burly  fellows  on  tre 
mendous  horses,  and  after  them  thundered  squadron 
after  squadron  of  heavy  cavalry,  the  rolling  shocks  of 
their  drumming  hoof-beats  shaking  the  terrace. 

"It's  the  Dutch  cavalry  !"  shouted  Giroux,  gallop 
ing  up  and  waving  his  arms  as  I  hastened  down  the 
steps.  I  saw  De  Euyter,  gray  with  dust,  draw  bridle 
on  the  lawn  and  bow  to  his  saddle-bow  as,  through 
the  flare  of  the  torches,  between  double  ranks  of 
cavalry,  a  carriage  with  outriders  swept  up  the  drive 
and  stopped.  Then  I  saw  the  Duke  at  the  carriage 
door,  bareheaded,  and  the  Duchess,  on  her  husband's 
arm,  curtseying  low,  as  cheer  after  cheer  broke  from 
the  crowding  cavalry,  and  a  thousand  sabres  were  un 
sheathed  and  lifted. 

Somebody  was  stepping  daintily  from  the  gilded 
carriage — a  young  girl  wrapped  to  the  eyes  in  furs. 
She  stood  for  a  moment  looking  up  at  the  chateau, 
smiling,  pensive,  silent. 

But  the  cheers  broke  out  anew  and  the  sabre-blades 
turned  and  flashed  blood-red  in  the  torch-light,  and 
the  Duke  raised  his  cap  and  cried  : 

"  Long  live  her  gracious  Majesty,  Queen  "Wilhelmina, 
of  Holland  I" 

The  cheers  swept  the  ranks  like  volleys  along  the 
battle-line.  The  white  marble  steps,  glimmering  red 
under  the  reflected  torch -glow,  were  crowded  with 
brilliant  throngs  now,  for  the  Queen  was  mounting 

253 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

the  escalier,  slowly,  serene,  a  faint  smile  curving  her 
lips,  her  eyes  and  hair  brilliant  in  the  shifting  light. 

Bareheaded  I  backed  against  the  balustrade  and 
bowed  ;  his  Excellency  bowed  beside  me,  and  took  his 
place  next  to  a  fat  Dutch  general,  with  mottled  cheeks 
and  a  needle-like  mustache.  Suddenly  there  came  a 
halt  in  the  long  line  ;  the  Queen  had  stopped  full  in 
the  radiance  of  the  terrace  lamps,  her  eyes  fixed  on  a 
figure  that  stood  motionless  on  the  terrace — so  close 
that  her  furs  almost  brushed  his  breast.  The  figure 
was  Prince  Edric ;  and  if  his  face  was  pale,  hers  was 
whiter  still. 

The  next  instant  the  Queen  had  passed. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 
THE    BUTTERFLY 

Being  an  account  of  further  revelations,  and  leaving  a  promise 
that  binds  nobody  yet  leaves  the  future  to  fulfil 

THEKE  had  been  a  great  deal  to  do  daring  the  week 
that  followed  her  Majesty's  arrival  at  Wilverwiltz 
— boar-ihunts  to  attend,  wolf -drives  in  the  free  Ar 
dennes,  golf-matches,  horseback  excursions,  and  every 
evening  a  particularly  brilliant  ball  and  Venetian  illu 
mination,  so  extravagant  that  the  Duke's  treasurer, 
the  Semitic  Baron  d'Arlon,  spent  hours  of  anxious 
inspection  over  columns  of  figures  that  stirred  the  few 
remaining  kinks  on  his  bald  head. 

One  painful  incident  marred  the  universal  gaiety — 
the  disciplining  of  the  army.  It  was  not  disbanded  ;  it 
was  not  even  imprisoned  except  during  the  night  in 
the  cellar.  But  next  day  the  Duke  sent  for  the 
parents  of  every  soldier  there,  and  they  arrived  en 
masse,  marshalled  by  Giroux.  Then  the  Duke  gave 
to  every  pair  of  parents  a  rattan  cane,  and  showed 
them  the  way  to  the  cellar;  and  the  sounds  that  is 
sued  from  that  subterranean  vault  were  bitter  and  in 
structive. 

Presently  a  column  of  mothers  emerged  from  the 
cellar,  breathless,  triumphant,  escorting  a  file  of  sol 
dier  sons,  hustled  and  slapped  at  intervals  by  another 
column  of  fathers.  It  was  soon  over  ;  Giroux  and  his 

255 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

gendarmes  escorted  them  back  to  their  barracks  in 
Luxembourg,  a  spectacle  viewed  with  undisguised 
horror  by  the  stolid  Dutch  cavalry.  I  said  to  his 
Excellency  :  "  I  refuse  to  be  identified  with  such  an 
army.  For  Heaven's  sake,  take  me  back  on  your 
staff,  or  let  me  go  home — I  don't  care  which  I" 

"  Eh  ?"  said  his  Excellency,  looking  at  me  over  his 
glasses. 

' '  I  don't  care  which,"  I  repeated,  sullenly. 

We  were  standing  on  the  lawn,  watching  her  Majes 
ty  Queen  Wilhelmina  driving  off  the  tee.  She  drove 
beautifully.  The  Duchess  clapped  her  white-gloved 
hands  and  cried,  ' '  Splendid,  your  Highness  I"  The 
Duchess  was  dazzling  in  her  beauty ;  the  sun  glittered 
in  her  burnished  hair  till  it  glowed  like  molten  cop 
per.  "Where  is  my  driver  ?"  she  asked,  with  a  new 
confidence  in  her  dainty  smile,  knowing  that  her  hus 
band  was  close  beside  her. 

She  drove  ;  her  husband  answered  her  inquiring 
glance  with  another  that  said,  "  There  is  nobody  like 
you — in  golf  or  in  love."  So  she  went  on,  her  happy 
eyes  resting  on  her  husband's  face,  he  beside  her,  se 
lecting  her  brassy  as  he  walked.  Yet  she  had  driven 
very  badly,  God  knows. 

"Eh  ?"  repeated  his  Excellency,  peering  at  me  over 
his  glasses. 

"  It  doesn't  matter  to  me  whether  I  stay  here  or  go 
back  to  Fort  Apache  and  die  of  dry  rot,"  I  said, 
sulkily. 

"  The  Countess  is  driving  off  the  tee/'  observed  his 
Excellency. 

Amyce  swung  over,  bit  her  lip,  caught  my  eye, 
frowned,  then  swung  over  again. 

256 


THE    BUTTERFLY 

"  Dear  me  I"  exclaimed  Bettina ;  for  the  Countess 
was  easily  the  best  on  the  links. 

"  You  may  take  my  place,"  said  Amyce,  suddenly, 
and  placed  her  driver  in  Bettina's  hands. 

«  But — "  began  Bettina. 

' '  I  do  not  care  for  golf  this  morning,"  said  the 
Countess,  serenely,  and  crossed  the  lawn  to  the  ter 
race  where  dozens  of  pink  and  white  baronesses  chat 
tered,  under  pearl  -  coloured  sunshades,  with  dozens 
of  heavy  Dutch  cavalry  officers,  glittering  and  em- 
presse. 

"Well,"  said  his  Excellency,  examining  the  bunch 
of  corn-flowers  in  his  button-hole,  "  I  guess  you'd  bet 
ter  go  back  then,  Hardy." 

I  swallowed  in  silence. 

"You  don't  want  to  waste  your  time  here,"  he 
went  on,  "  and  I  have  no  use  for  a  military  attache.  I 
guess  you  had  better  go  back  to  America."  He  spoke 
very  distinctly  —  not  loudly,  however,  but  he  turned 
his  head  towards  the  terrace  as  he  spoke,  and  the 
Countess  must  have  heard  every  word. 

"Yes,"  continued  his  Excellency,  raising  his  voice 
the  least  bit  and  staring  dreamily  at  a  yellow  sunshade 
— "yes,  Hardy,  there's  nothing  to  keep  you  in  Luxem 
bourg  any  longer.  Can  you  catch  to-night's  train  ?" 

"  Yes,"  I  muttered,  looking  at  Amyce.  Her  back 
was  towards  me  ;  it  remained  so. 

Bettina  drove  off  the  tee ;  Osborne  followed,  and 
away  they  went  over  the  lawn,  a  dimpled  caddy  fol 
lowing  like  a  wingless  Cupid  with  his  quiver  full  of 
golf-sticks. 

"By  Heaven,"  I  blurted  out,  "I  believe  Osborne  is 
going  to  win  that  girl  !" 

R  257 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"I'm  damned  sure  of  it,"  observed  his  Excellency. 
He  glanced  reflectively  at  his  broad  boots,  placed  both 
hands  behind  his  back,  and  began  an  irritating,  bal 
ancing  motion,  still  staring  at  his  boots. 

I  don't  know  why  the  happiness  of  another  should 
have  depressed  me.  I  looked  at  the  blue  sky  with 
a  heavy  heart.  His  Excellency  surveyed  the  firma 
ment  with  condescension,  turned  on  his  heel  and 
walked  across  the  grass  in  the  wake  of  the  golfers.  I 
followed. 

Her  Majesty  of  Holland  was  lofting ;  she  lofted 
perfectly  and  holed.  There  came  a  ripple  of  applause 
and  laughter. 

"  Where's   Prince   Edric  ?"   demanded   his   Excel 
lency,  twisting  around  to  look  at  me. 
.     "  In  his  lodge/'  I  replied. 

"  He  hasn't  been  here  since  the  Queen  came,  has 
he  ?"  asked  his  Excellency,  abstractedly. 

"  No — you  know  why." 

"I  guess  I  do,"  said  the  old  man,  chuckling. 

Everybody  knew  it  now ;  the  romance  of  Prince 
Edric  was  everybody's  property  at  Wilverwiltz.  For 
his  pretty  peasant  girl  at  the  forester's  lodge  a  year 
ago  had  been  the  capricious  little  queen  herself ;  and 
the  very  day  of  her  arrival  a  year  ago — the  day  he  left 
to  avoid  her — she  had  donned  the  costume  of  the  coun 
try,  as  she  often  did,  and  had  visited  old  Van  Tassel, 
the  head  forester.  There  she  and  Edric  had  met. 
Neither  knew  the  other,  and  Van  Tassel  did  not  know 
the  Queen.  There  she  and  Edric  parted,  and  there 
she  lost  the  ring. 

"Like  a  story  book,  ain't  it  ?"  observed  his  Excel 
lency. 

258 


THE    BUTTERFLY 

"Is  Edric  going  away  ?" 

"  I  guess  so.  I  gness  he's  going  to  be  reconciled  to 
his  dear  Kaiser,"  said  his  Excellency,  pleasantly. 

"Do  you  think—" 

"Pooh!"  said  his  Excellency,  sharply,  "don't  bel 
low  things  like  that  at  the  top  of  your  lungs  !" 

We.  walked  on  in  silence.  The  Duchess  was  put 
ting.  She  didn't  hole,  but  the  Duke  said,  "Splen 
did  !"  and  nobody  smiled. 

Presently  his  Excellency  said,  "Hardy,  you  haven't 
much  horse-sense,  have  you  ?" 

I  grew  scarlet,  but  the  old  man  touched  my  arm 
kindly,  and  we  walked  towards  a  marble  seat  under 
the  trees.  There  his  Excellency  seated  himself  and 
plucked  several  grass-blades,  selecting  the  most  appe 
tising  to  chew. 

"Why  don't  you  marry  the  little  Countess?"  he  asked, 
taking  off  his  hat  and  fanning  his  benevolent  face. 

I  could  not  take  offence  where  only  kindliness  was 
meant.  I  said,  quietly,  "She  does  not  care  for  me — 
that  is  why." 

"  And  you  asked  her  ?" 

"Yes,"  I  said,  simply. 

"When?" 

"Yesterday." 

"  She  refused  ?" 

"'Yes." 

"I  guess,"  said  his  Excellency,  "that  she  was 
afraid  you  demanded  it  as  a  kind  of  payment  in 
gratitude  for  saving  her  from  old  Vossburg.  Women 
are  that  way." 

"  No  sensible  woman  could  think  me  such  a  fool !" 
I  retorted,  hotly. 

259 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"  Women  are  that  way,"  repeated  his  Excellency. 

"Oh,"  I  said,  wearily,  "I'm  tired  of  them.  Send 
me  back  to  Fort  Apache.  All  I  ask  is  to  get  to 
sea." 

"Very  well,"  he  said,  gravely;  "  'a  man's  a  ass  as 
goes  to  sea ' — and  you  fill  the  bill,  my  son." 

He  rose  and  started  again  in  the  wake  of  the  golf 
ers,  saying  over  his  shoulder,  "  Better  go  and  have 
your  orderly  pack  up." 

I  stood  for  a  moment  watching  him.  Presently  old 
De  Ruyter  joined  him,  and  they  trotted  off  to  the 
green  where  the  Queen  of  Holland  was  lowering  the 
record  for  the  fifth  hole. 

I  looked  at  the  sunshine,  the  white  clouds  sailing ; 
I  heard  the  river  ripple  and  the  wood-bird's  cheery 
piping.  I  was  a  miserable  man.  A  butterfly  came 
fluttering  around  me ,  it  followed  me  persistently 
back  to  the  chateau.  There  I  understood  that  it 
wanted  my  button-hole  bunch  of  sweet-peas,  so  I  laid 
the  flowers  on  the  terrace  wall,  and  the  delicate-winged 
creature  settled  on  them  and  uncoiled  a  threadlike 
proboscis. 

I  had  been  standing  watching  the  butterfly  for 
some  time.  The  house  was  very  still ,  the  baronesses 
and  the  officers  were  strolling  two  by  two  into  the 
forest  beyond  the  third  gate.  Presently  they  disap 
peared  ;  a  cloud  dimmed  the  sun,  and  the  cool  shadow 
fell  across  the  house. 

"Are  you  going  away  ?"  said  a  voice  very  near  me. 
Amyce  leaned  from  the  conservatory  door,  her  lips 
touched  with  a  mocking  smile,  her  sunshade  swing 
ing  in  her  left  hand.  She  offered  me  the  right ;  I  took 
it  and  said,  "  Good-bye — yes,  I  am  going." 

260 


THE    BUTTERFLY 

"To-night?" 

So  she  Jmd  heard  his  Excellency. 

"Yes." 

"  Then — if  you  are  going — my  ring." 

I  lifted  the  chain  from  my  pocket,  detached  the 
ring,  and  gave  it  to  her  without  hesitation. 

"  Thank  you/'  she  said,  faintly. 

I  thought  she  was  going  to  pass  me,  so  I  stepped 
back  a  pace.  She  walked  to  the  terrace  parapet,  where 
the  butterfly  was  probing  the  sweet-peas.  It  did  not 
fly  up  when  she  bent  close  to  it ,  even  when  she  lifted 
the  blossoms  close  to  her  face  it  still  clung  to  them, 
opening  and  shutting  its  painted  wings. 

After  a  while  she  turned  and  went  back  into  the 
conservatory.  I  did  not  intend  to  follow,  but  I  did. 
We  sat  on  a  window-seat  and  watched  the  butterfly, 
now  quite  at  home  on  the  flowers  she  held  close  to  her 
face. 

"I  think,"  she  said,  "that  Prince  Edric  will  be 
happy  at  last.  He,  too,  is  going  away." 

"He  is  going  away  to  win  the  woman  he  loves,"  I 
said,  pleasantly. 

She  looked  at  the  ring  on  her  finger,  then  at  the 
butterfly. 

"You  must  be  very  happy  to  know  that  the  Duch 
ess — "  I  began,  but  she  cried  •  "Ah,  yes,  I  am  happy 
now — perfectly  happy.  Their  troubles  are  ended  at 
last.  Why  should  I  not  be  happy  ?  It  is  all  I  wished 
for — that  her  husband  should  understand  her." 

"  So  you  are  happy  ?"  I  said. 

"  Perfectly." 

After  a  long  silence  I  rose  and  walked  to  the  door. 

Her  face  was  closer  to  the  flowers  now. 
261 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

"  So  yon  are  happy  ?"  I  repeated. 

"Perfectly/' 

Something  bright,  like  a  diamond  from  her  ring, 
fell  on  the  sweet-peas.  The  butterfly,  alarmed,  flew 
tip  and  hovered  around  her  head.  A  single  drop — 
dew,  perhaps — clung  to  a  petal,  then  fell.  And  she 
raised  the  flowers  to  her  lips  and  kissed  them,  eyes 
closed,  wet  lashes  trembling  on  her  cheeks. 

After  a  while  the  butterfly  came  back,  but  the 
crushed  blossoms  lay  on  the  floor  now,  fragrant  as 
the  sweet  face  that  rested  close  to  mine — frail  as  the 
white  hands  that  clasped  my  neck. 

I  stooped  and  kissed  her  parted  lips.  The  sunshine 
dazzled  her  eyes ;  she  closed  them. 

On  the  blossoms  at  her  feet  the  butterfly  slowly 
waved  its  crimson-banded  wings. 


ENVOI 

THAT  evening  Prince  Edric  rode  away  to  the 
frontier,  where  his  consecrated  Sovereign  and  eighty 
thousand  disciples  squatted  in  rows  on  the  landes- 
grenze,  peering  across  the  boundary  at  the  blue  woods 
of  Luxembourg. 

The  sudden  arrival  of  the  Dutch  cavalry  at  Wilver- 
wiltz  astonished  the  Kaiser;  the  appearance  of  the 
Queen  of  Holland  horrified  him;  but  the  courteous 
diplomatic  note  from  the  Duke,  notifying  William 
the  Sudden  that  the  insurrection  had  been  happily 
quelled  without  the  necessity  of  invoking  the  good 
offices  of  Germany,  drove  the  Sudden  Potentate  to  the 
verge  of  distraction. 

Where  now  was  his  chance  for  meddling  ?  Toxe, 
bouncing  up  and  down  on  a  fat  plough-horse,  arrived 
too  late  to  do  anything  except  arouse  the  Sudden  One 
to  a  fury,  cataclysmic  in  its  sublimity.  But  if  he  was 
sublime  in  his  anger,  he  was  majestic  in  his  sulks. 
Eage  deprived  him  even  of  his  accustomed  consola 
tion — a  speech  to  his  guards  regiments.  He  slammed 
the  hilt  of  his  sabre  on  the  mess-table,  glared  at  his 
staff,  then  rose,  mounted,  and  walked  his  horse  to  the 
very  edge  of  the  frontier,  followed  timidly  by  his  staff 
in  blocks  of  five. 

It  was  a  death-blow  to  his  philanthropic  schedule, 
this  imbecile  submission  of  the  Luxembourg  army; 

263 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

and,  as  he  fidgeted  in  his  saddle,  staring  out  across 
the  sunset  and  the  kindling  meadows,  he  uttered  an 
immortal  epigram,  paraphrasing  the  last  words  of  the 
Great  Napoleon — "Bete  d'armee  !" 

Yet,  in  the  very  instant  of  defeat,  victory  was  to  be 
thrust  upon  him;  Prince  Edric,  even  at  that  moment, 
was  riding  through  the  pleasant  Herajilt  meadows  on 
his  way  to  submit  to  his  gracious  Kaiser — humbly 
submit  to  a  happy  destiny  that  might  open  a  vista  of 
unlimited  meddling  to  the  Sacred  and  Sudden  One — 
the  Kingdom  of  the  Netherlands  and  the  Grand  Duchy 
of  Luxembourg. 

So  he  rode  out  of  the  chateau  gates,  cap  in  hand. 

I  rode  with  him,  a  bunch  of  faded  sweet-peas  in 
my  coat.  On  the  terrace  above  us,  as  we  passed,  the 
Duchess  leaned  down  beside  her  husband  to  bid  us 
good-speed;  Bettina  and  Osborne  nodded  condescend 
ingly;  his  Excellency  and  De  Ruyter,  like  a  pair  of 
gentlemen  owls,  regarded  our  going  as  the  great  desert 
Sphinx  watches  the  wind-blown  sands.  The  Queen 
of  Holland  was  walking  by  the  lake  with  Amyce, 
sweet,  serious,  head  bent,  white  hands  clasped.  They 
turned  as  we  galloped  through  the  gate ;  I  saw  them 
standing  still  in  the  blaze  of  the  red,  level  sun. 

We  were  half-way  to  the  frontier  before  we  spoke ; 
then  Edric  said  : 

"There  is  little  hope  for  a  man  who  changes  his 
mind  ;  there  is  no  hope  for  a  man  who  doesn't." 

"I'm  always  in  favour  of  a  new  shuffle  when  the 
pack  goes  stale,"  I  observed.  "Let  the  Emperor 
dealX 

"  Yes, '  a  new  deck  and  a  new  deal,'  as  the  devil  said 
when  he  dealt  damnation  all  around." 

264 


ENVOI 

"The  shortest  road  to  heaven  is  through  hell/7  I 
said,  cheerfully. 

"If  it  lay  through  paradise  we  wouldn't  know  it 
when  we  got  there/'  suggested  Edric. 

"Perhaps,"  I  assented,  vaguely. 

After  a  while  I  fished  a  horse-shoe  out  of  my  pocket 
and  regarded  it  sentimentally.  The  shoe  had  five 
nails  in  it. 

"You  will  be  happy  for  five  years,"  observed 
Edric. 

"  For  more  than  that,"  said  I.  "  The  Countess's 
horse  has  three  other  shoes." 

Presently  he  said,  "And  you  are  going  to  Fort 
Apache  ?" 

"That's  where  my  regiment  is  going,"  I  answered. 

"A  sort  of  desert— eh  ?" 

"Not  at  all — the  Countess  of  Wilverwiltz  will  be 
there." 

Dusk  hovered  in  the  valleys  as  we  cantered  out  into 
the  Herault  meadows,  where  the  white  granite  posts 
of  the  frontier  stretched  from  horizon  to  horizon. 

And  there,  on  the  edge  of  the  boundary,  we  gave 
each  other  our  hands  and  said  a  quiet  farewell — per 
haps  for  all  time. 

I  watched  him  walk  his  bay  mare  across  the  border 
towards  a  group  of  horsemen — a  mediaeval  group — 
giants  on  gigantic  chargers,  helmeted,  armed,  and 
clad  in  steel — splendid  mailed  riders  of  the  Cuirassier 
Guards  of  his  Imperial  Highness,  William  the  Sudden. 
The  War  Lord  was  there  too,  towering  up  in  his  sad 
dle,  scaled  cheek-guard  clasped,  eagle-crested  helmet 
shadowing  the  high  cheek-bones  of  a  sombre,  relent 
less  visage. 

265 


THE    CONSPIRATORS 

In  the  rising  night-mist  the  group  wavered  before 
me  like  figures  on  a  wind-stirred  tapestry  ;  then  I 
wheeled  my  horse  back  into  the  ashes  of  the  sunset. 

A  star  broke  out  overhead,  a  planet,  sparkling  like 
an  amethyst — the  blue  Love-Planet,  veiled  in  violet. 
Behind  me  the  silver  trumpets  blew  long  —  faintly, 
more  faintly  —  the  banners  of  the  night-mist  waved 
through  the  forest,  pale  shadows  stirred  through  a 
white  dusk  shrouded  in  fog. 

Yet,  as  I  rode,  head  lifted,  eyes  dreaming,  the  pur 
ple  planet's  slender  rays,  splintering  the  mist,  led  me 
back  through  strange  ways,  through  fear  and  distrust 
and  the  mazes  of  false  doubts,  to  all  that  I  loved  best. 

The  scented  night  was  silent  where  the  white  pea 
cock  brooded,  ghostlike,  above  the  marble  parapet ; 
the  dim  soft  star  -  torch  flickered  in  the  zenith. 
Amyce,  standing  on  the  terrace,  all  alone,  stretched 
out  both  small  hands  to  me. 


TIIE 


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tion  and  his  knavery.  But  he  is  a  very  realistic,  very  human  char 
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